Speak Now
by Evra7
Summary: Ginny has lived in America for five years, but now she's back. She learns more about herself, and Harry as well. But she's already missed out on her chance. Can she get him back?
1. Blast From The Past

Ginny began to unpack the things in her new apartment. She lived in London, once again, as she had when she was fourteen. She'd moved to America five years ago or a job opportunity in Quidditch, where they rented a football stadium five nights a week. Whenever they were there the coach would put up a muggle repelling charm on it.

Finally, she would get to play with the Harpies. Though Ginny did miss her old teammates already, especially her bestfriend Mia. They'd both been new recruits from different places when Ginny had first gotten there. They'd stayed at the team's hotel for a few months, but then had decided to get an apartment together.

Mia was from Kansas, which was pretty far away, too. The midwest had a different magic school than New York, so she hadn't known anyone either.

She unwrapped the picture of her team and set it on her night stand.

It was strange to be back in London, when the last time she'd been there had been with Harry.

She sighed. She'd been able to lock Harry Potter in the back of her mind as time went on in New York. The less she'd seen him, the less she'd though of him. And now that she was in England her memories had come flooding back, as did her feelings for Harry Potter.

_It was right in the middle of the war. She met him at a muggle pub so no one would recognize "Undesirable Number One"._

_Nevertheless his scar was covered with makeup, and his hair had gold streaks in it. "It's a glamour," he explained. "Muggles do this to their hair all the time."_

_She nodded as if she knew this already._

_"I missed you," he said._

_She smiled at him, her heart fluttering wildly. "I missed you too, Harry."_

_He pulled her to his chest amd hugged her, and she could smell him. He smelled like warm bread and pine. She looked up at him and he leaned down and kissed her. At first it was a soft, longing kiss. She then realized he'd really missed her as much as she'd missed him._

_They stopped kissing and went to sit down at the bar. The bartender looked at them questioningly. "One whiskey please," Harry said. "And erm... one-"_

_"Beer," Ginny inserted, smiling at him. The bartender slid the glass of whiskey down the bar and Harry caught it easily. Ginny noticed for the first time how toned his muscles were, and how beautiful they were when he stretched his arm out._

_Harry pulled out a picture of last years Christmas. "Your mum sent this to me through Dobby. I wished I could have been there with you."_

_The picture was worn, even though it had only been taken a little more than six months ago. Ginny was trying to smile in the picture, as were her mum and dad. But they were the only ones left at home that Christmas. It had been lonely._

_"Oh. I wished you were there too, Harry. I wished everyone could have been there. I was the only one with a Weasley sweater."_

_The bartender sent down her beer, and she took a quick sip. She was eighteen now, and she was even legal in muggle London._

_Harry put his hand into hers, and she smiled at the warmness of it. He then took a drink of his whiskey._

_"Can I have a sip?" She asked._

_He smiled and held his cup out to her. _

_She drank it. "It's not nearly as strong as firewhiskey," she said._

_"I know. Not nearly as intoxicating either. Dead useful," he said._

_Harry set a few pounds on the counter. "You wanna go to Harrods?"_

_"What's that?" She asked._

_"It's a store, you'll love it," and he was right, she did. When they were done, and Harry had brought her a few things, they'd somehow ended up at a hotel. Ginny vaguely realized she was apparating as she was kissing Harry. He began to unhook her bra, and she began to unbutton his trousers. She felt so much heat, and needed him in every single way possible._

The next morning she'd woken up alone and sore. She'd cried when she'd realized he'd just shagged her and then left.

Five years later, the war had ended, and she still hadn't heard from him. She sighed again.

Ginny put her clothes into her wardrobe and laid flat on her bed, mentally spraying her face every time she thought of Harry.

When she realized she had to get ready to go to the Burrow she groaned. She hadn't seen her family since she'd left. But they knew she was back, and it was Sunday dinner. Lovely.

She put on the green sweater her mum had sent her last Christmas and a pair of leggings. She'd lost a lot of weight, and her mum had made her sweater so big that it went halfway down her thighs. She braided her hair and put on a pair of light brown moccasins.

She couldn't floo yet, as her fireplace wasn't connected, so she apparated to the Burrow.

It looked just as it did when she left five years before. The same orchard she'd ran around as a child, the same Quidditch paddock snuck out to when she was six to teach herself how to fly, the pond where they spent their summers swimming and their winters skating... so many memories, the most recent with Harry.

She walked to the door and knocked. Ron answered and Ginny found herself smiling. She hadn't seen him in eight years, unless she counted the newspaper articles, of course.

"Hey Ron," Ginny said going in for a hug, "I missed you."

"Well maybe you should have visited," he said seriously. "Transportation is so easy these days. Aeroplanes, broom, floo, portkey, apparation..."

"Yeah, yeah. But I was busy winning the American Quidditch Cup, you doof," she said happily.

He ruffled her hair, and she realized he was only a little taller than the last time they had seen each other the summer of Bill's wedding.

Next came Bill himself. He'd always been her favorite brother, though they had the largest age difference. She'd written to him every week that first year she'd been in New York. The next year she'd written every two weeks, and had kept that up the following three years. "I missed you firefly," Bill said hugging her.

"I wrote you most, Bill," she giggled.

"But I haven't seen you in six years!" he exclaimed. "You've only seen pictures of Victoire and Jason!"

"They're very cute in person," she said grinning at her niece and nephew, she waved at them.

"Daddy, who's that?" Jason asked.

"That's Aunt Ginny," he explained. "She lived in America. She plays Quidditch."

Victoire jumped up and down excitedly. "I love Quidditch!" Ginny just smiled at her in response.

"Are you oafs going to let me in?" she hadn't realized just how much she'd missed the Burrow until now. It smelled like home.

They stepped aside and let her walk through the door. Inside was a very pregnant Fleur, a two year old Arthur, Hermione running after him, Charlie holding his wife Lia's hand, and Harry. Harry Potter. Holding the hand of a familiar looking black-haired woman.

"Hello all," Ginny stuttered trying to grin. That had to be Cho Chang. The only Asian magic family she knew were the Changs. Ginny remembered how much she'd hated Cho during her third and fourth years, and that returned now ten-fold. "Where's Mum and Dad?"

"They're in the kitchen, Ginny," Hermione informed her.

"Alright, thanks Herm," Ginny motored into the kitchen trying to avoid Harry's intense gaze.

"Hello Mum, Dad," Ginny said, trying to smile once again. _Ginny you were over Harry before you moved here, you just need closure,_ she thought. _You are a grown woman. He won't hurt you anymore. He can't._

She ran to hug her mum, feeling comforted in her mother's warm embrace. She felt like a child again. "I missed you, Mum," she said into her mother's hair. The last time she'd seen her, her head had only been to the bottom of her lips. Mum had probably shrunk a little, too.

"Ginny, you should have visited more. You didn't even come home on Christmas. You're much too skinny, darling."

Ginny rolled her eyes. It was just like her mum to say that.

"Don't you roll your eyes at me, young lady!" Mum chided. Ginny just smiled and hugged her tighter. She pulled back and noticed her father.

"Daddy!" She ran to give him a hug and smelled the wood he always smelled like. They didn't say anything until they pulled back. "How have you two been?"

"We've been fine, even though all of our children have left the nest. All of the grandkids stay over on Sunday nights. How have you been, dear?"

"I've been alright. I already miss my teammates, but playing with the Harpies is a chance in a lifetime. I couldn't turn them down. But Mia said she's gonna come visit in the off season."

"When is the off season in America?" Her father asked.

"In a few weeks."

"She'll be here just in time for Harry's wedding!" Her mother said happily.

"Excuse me?" Ginny choked on air. Getting married?

"Yes. He's getting married in two weeks to Cho. On June 20th."

Ginny choked on more air. That was the day... her father patted her on the back.

"You didn't know?" Her mum said.

"No," Ginny seethed. She wanted to yell, cry, stomp, whine, and hex Cho all a the same time. Once again she had to remind herself that she was a grown woman. The Burrow made all her old insecurities and childishness come back.

"Just ask for an invitation, dear," Mum said trying to make it better. She knew how close Ginny and Harry had been all those years ago.

"Right. How long until dinner is ready?" She asked.

"Five minutes, darling. Why don't you go chat with your family whom you havent seen in at least half a decade?" Her father suggested.

"Good idea, Daddy," she said even though all she wanted to do was bash somebody's head in with a bludger.

She hugged both of them, and put a smile on her face as she walked back into the parlor. She knew how to act. She could act like Cho Chang was her best friend, and like she'd never loved Harry.

"Hello Harry, Cho. How have you two been?" She asked in a normal tone.

Harry opened his mouth to reply, but Cho cut him off before words could escape his mouth. "We've been great Ginny. How have you been?"

"Awesome," she smiled widely. "I'll be playing for the Harpies next season, you know."

"Oh. I gave up that sport once I finished Hogwarts. It was unbecoming," Cho wrinkled her nose lightly, speaking snidely.

On the inside, Ginny was angry. On the outside she said, "Oh. Well I say tomayto, you say tomahto."

Cho smiled at her, hoping Ginny got the message, _Harry Potter is mine, Ginny Weasley._

Harry looked back and forth between his fiancee and his ex-girlfriend. Ginny was the only girl he'd ever truly loved. Cho was convenient. They'd been dating for four years, and it was what everyone had expected. She was the new Minister's daughter, he was the saviour of the Wizarding World. He'd had to propose. But now Ginny was back. He knew he still loved her. He also regretted leaving her before she woke up that day.

Ginny looked at Harry. She got sucked into his eyes and she could tell something was bothering him. Was it her presence? Did he really dislike her that much?

"Excuse me for a moment," she said, still smiling. "I've got to use the loo."

She walked off quickly and locked the door of the bathroom as soon as she entered. She breathed in and out as calmly as she could. She pulled out her cell phone, and called Mia.

"Hello?" Her best friend asked from the other side of the Atlantic.

"It's me. I think it changed cause I'm in England. Anyways. I'm freakin' out!" She shout whispered.

"What's wrong Gin?" Mia asked.

"Harry's here!"

"Harry Potter?"

"Yeah," she said looking around to make sure there were no feet near the door crack.

"The same Harry Potter who took your virginity while you were slightly tipsy, and then left before you even woke up?"

"Yeah."

"I'm so sorry, Gin," Ginny could hear Mia's pity over the line.

"And guess what else!"

"What?"

"He's bloody engaged! Engaged! To freaking Cho Chang!" Ginny tried not to shout a list of expletives from her vocabulary.

"Calm down. Take a breath. Breathe like you're about to have a kid. Take this into consideration, Gin. He hasn't seen you for five years. The last time you saw him, you were shagging. And now he's got a fiancee. Think how awkward it is for him."

"Mims. I thought I was over him! I didn't think of him until I got on the plane. I didn't even think about seeing him until I got to my apartment. What am I gonna do?"

"I'd come out there for moral support, but I can't quit when there are two games left, Gin..."

"Wait! You haven't heard the best part!" She said hysterically.

"What?"

"He's getting married in two weeks! Two weeks!"

"If you still love him- and I know you do, Gin, don't give me that look- you'd better get to him before then," Mia reasoned.

"Right. Thanks. I've got to go... it's dinner time. I haven't seen most of these people in forever. I need to go talk to Hermione. And get to know my niece and nephews. Bye."

"Bye, Gin."

Ginny hung up the phone, and resisted the temptation to cry. She would not cry until she got home, in the privacy of her own apartment. _Flat,_ she corrected herself.

When she got back downstairs, everyone was seated around the same table she'd grown up eating at. Ginny smiled at all the memories. She missed being little. It was so much easier, and simpler. Back then she'd only thought of Harry Potter as a hero, not the man she loved.

"Ginny dear, your old spot is waiting for you," her mum said smiling at her.

Ginny returned the smile, touched that she still got the same exact spot as she had when she was a child.

"So, how's your American team doing, Ginny?" Charlie asked her.

"It's doing great. They've got two games left in the season, and we've won every one but one. It was against the Massachussetts Magicks. They were pricks."

"Ginevra!" Her mother admonished.

Ginny blushed. "Sorry Mum. Didn't even think about it. I've learned worse in America."

"What are those yanks teaching you?" Fred asked.

"Frederick!" Mum yelled.

Ginny grinned. "They taught me all kinds of new words... ones that are even worse than that."

The bickering continued and Ginny smiled at the familiar territory. She'd missed this.

Ginny left that night feeling slightly better than she had at the beggining when she'd noticed who else was at the house. But Ginny needed to vent to someone, and so she called Mia again.

"Hey, Gin," Mia answered this time.

"Hi... You're not eating dinner or anything, are you?"

"No... the team is going out for some drinks and dinner around ten so nope... What's wrong?"

"I just needed to vent... and I don't know if I can write in my diary right away, now that I'm back."

"Alright. Vent."

"So Cho Chang. Did I tell you about what she said?"

"No."

"I told he I'd be playing for the Harpies in the next season, and she said that she stopped playing Quidditch when she left Hogwarts, as it was unbecoming. She's like a cookie cutter politicians wife! Or that girl who thinks you're encroaching on her guy!"

"Well... aren't you, sort of?"

"Well yeah, but she doesn't know that."

"She must be naturally jealous... or she could be a gold digger."

"Her family has money, her father is the new Minister of Magic."

"Woah. Powerful family."

"Yeah. Like... I'm almost afraid if I were to actually have the ability to steal Harry away, they'd hunt me down... they're like the Medici's of England."

"Geez. I'm sorry, Gin."

"Me too. D'ya think that night meant anything to Harry?"

"I don't know Gin. It doesn't sound like he'd had sex before either... and from what you told me, he'd said he cared and that he'd missed you. I think that must be something coming from him, as he's never been good with girls."

"But he was such a man... and I was still a girl. I just didn't realize it then."

"It happens Gin. I'm just gonna be realistic here, is that okay?"

"Yeah. Honesty is the best policy."

"Right. Well you probably weren't ready for it. And maybe he wasn't either. Maybe he panicked when he woke up and realized fully what you two had done. You cried. Maybe he felt bad. He broke up with you to go save the world didn't he? Maybe he left in the middle of the night to protect you, too."

"That makes sense... but Harry was Harry. He'd gone through so much... Had so much experience in everything else..."

"Gin... maybe he was used to hiding his feelings by then. As you said, he had gone through a lot. Maybe he just seemed together, when inside he was just as nervous and immature as you."

"Immature?"

"Like... mentally prepared for the consequences of sex."

"Oh. Right... I think I might have been more prepared if he hadn't left."

"Perhaps."

"I'm gonna think this over... and cry a little bit, just to be honest. I'll call you again at some tomorrow."

"Alright, bye Gin."

"Bye Mia," she said hanging up the phone, already feeling tears slide down her cheeks.

She hadn't realized how much she'd missed England. She hadn't realized how much seeing Harry's face made her feel. She hadn't realized that he'd already moved on. And she just now realized why she hadn't dated in the five years since she'd seen Harry. She'd never been over him. He'd ruined sex for her. Whenever she thought of it, she thought of how it would feel to be left in the morning again, used for shagging and nothing else.

She felt the tears burn trails down her face as she hugged her pillow to her chest in the darkness of her new flat. It was lonely, as that Christmas five years ago. She fell asleep after an hour or two of silent tears and sobs wracking her body.


	2. The Ministry

_She watched the map as his name traveled out from under the whomping willow. She smiled. She noticed his dot traveled towards the lake, and decided to meet him there._

_She was seventeen, and excited to see her boyfriend for the first time in months. Harry Potter was resting by their tree, and she was going to remind him who he'd been missing out on._

_Ginny came out from her hiding space behind the tapestry, a disillusionment charm on her. She placed a silencing charm on her feet, and ran towards where Harry was._

_She smiled when she saw his outline in the moonlight. She came up behind him, putting her arms around his shoulders and kissing his neck._

_"Ginny?" He asked hesitantly._

_Ginny grinned and finite'd her disillusionment charm, "Hello, Harry."_

_"Hi Ginny," he smiled up at her, and Ginny felt her heart melt. She'd missed her Harry._

_She let go of him and sat down across from him on the grass. "How's the effort been, Harry?"_

_"We've lost more Aurors. But the Order hasn't lost anymore."_

_"How's the Horcrux hunt?" She asked him._

_"It's going... frustratingly... Hermione thinks that there might be one here in Hogwarts, but we're not quite sure."_

_"Oh. Well when you leave, I can try to find it... what do you think it is?"_

_"We think it's Ravenclaw's diadem."_

_"Oh. I can ask Luna, she's been doing research on Ravenclaw this year."_

_"Why?"_

_"I've started the DA up again. We're giving them hell," she grinned, hoping he'd feel proud of her._

_"Why would you endanger yourself like that?" He asked._

_"You do everyday!"_

_"I'm eighteen!"_

_"Well I'm seventeen! And when you left you were seventeen! I'm older than that now. I'm older than I was when you took us to the Department of Mysteries, and when you rescued the Philosopher's Stone from Voldemort," she said saying his name unlflinchingly._

_"Okay, okay," he relented._

_"Guess what else, Harry?"_

_"What?"_

_"The Carrow's have no idea who's involved in the DA!"_

_"That's good. Those two are nasty pieces of work."_

_"I know... me, Luna, and Neville are heading it. As we're all pureblood's. They can't do anything to seriously injure us." She didn't tell him about how sometimes she'd be subjected to the Cruciatus anyways, just because she'd been caught when she should have disillusioned herself. She didn't tell him about how the sixth year girls and even some fifth years were forced to curse her in their Dark Arts class, as an example to all. She felt proud of herself for standing up to Voldemort in such a way, even when she couldn't be on the actual battlefield yet._

_"Gin, you still need to be careful. You haven't seen what they can do."_

_"I think I have Harry. I've seen them torture the few muggleborn's left to insanity. The one's who couldn't be proved as muggleborns."_

_"Ginny!"_

_"It's true Harry!"_

_She looked into his intensely worried eyes, and she couldn't help but smile. She leaned up to his face, and he leaned down... Their lips touched..._

What was that annoying buzzing sound? Ginny looked around out of sorts, suddenly everything coming back to her. She was back in England. She sighed and noticed how her face felt stiff.

In the morning, her late night misery seemed childish and like it shouldn't be as big of a deal as she had made it out to seem last night to Mia.

She sighed again and got out of bed. Time to get up. She needed to unpack today. She wouldn't have much time once the season started up.

She looked down at her pajama's that her mother would never approve of, and smiled. She'd changed so much in America. She'd become more grown up than when she left in the aftermath of the war, ignoring the wizarding world's plea for help.

She'd known she couldn't not fight, but as soon as Voldemort was dead and she knew Harry was alive, she hightailed it out of England and onto a plane to New York City.

She went to a box labelled "books" and picked up the book shelf out of it. She pulled her wand off of her night stand and put it where she wanted it, then _finite'_d it. Now it was it's original size, she put all of her books on it.

Book's she'd collected since she was little, and books that she'd gotten in America. Some of them were muggle books, but incredibly good, despite her frustration to understand how they lived without magic.

One book read "Dear Ginny... Happy Christmas. I've never said this, but I'm glad you were there for me in first year, even though you were fighting all your own troubles. We really did bond over Harry didn't we? Love, Colin."

Ginny realized she'd neglected her first Hogwarts friend since her sixth year, when he'd been kicked out... she should contact him. She placed the book onto her book shelf and moved onto her next box.

Pictures. She opened the box to pictures of magical times when she was a child. There was a photo album of pictures of Ginny and her brothers at the Burrow as children. There were numerous pictures of her reading the Harry Potter pop-up book she'd been given when she was four. There were pictures of her playing House, Quidditch Winner, and Princess. She smiled... she missed her childhood so.

There was another photo album of her fifth year. There were pictures of her and Dean. And then there was a picture of their break up. There were pictures of Ginny doing homework. There were pictures of the Slug Club meetings. And there were pictures of Harry and her.

There were an abundance of them, considering they'd only been at Hogwarts as a couple for a few weeks. She smiled when she saw the picture of their first kiss. And a picture of her head in Harry's lap, his finger's toying with her fiery hair. Colin had managed to catch it all. There were more pictures of them kissing. Even a few where they'd both acknowledged the camera and had told Colin to piss off laughingly.

Ginny smiled again. Why couldn't those sunlit days come back?

She put those two both on her book shelf as well, moving onto the pictures in frames. There was a picture of her and Mia. And there was a signed picture of her favorite muggle band, Paramore. They were new, but pretty amazing. There were a few more pictures of the team. There were live pictures of her as she was scoring a goal, or fouling someone. She laughed.

She moved onto the box labeled "muggle stuff". Inside was a shrunk television, a shrunk boombox, and a microwave. "Dead useful, those things," she said to herself.

She put the television on her dresser and _finite'_d it. She carried the microwave to the kitchen before unshrinking it and hooking it into the electric plugin.

She unloaded the box labelled "MUSIC" and took out her iPod, and all of her CD's which she hadn't needed to shrink. She put them next to her boombox and smiled... that was almost everything except for her clothes, which she would worry about on a later date.

Ginny grabbed her purple blouse out of her suitcase, and a pair of trousers. She figured she might as well go visit with Hermione today. They hadn't talked much the night before. But Cho wouldn't be round at Ron and Hermione's, right?

She grabbed her purse, a pair of sunglasses, her cell phone, and slipped on her black Chuck Taylors. She smiled at herself in the mirror when her makeup was applied, and walked out of the house into London. She walked right back in and remembered that she could apparate to the Burrow, to find out where Hermione lived and what it looked like.

She chuckled at herself. In New York she'd mostly done things the muggle way. But she was in England again, where everything magical was encouraged as long as it was without the notice of muggles.

She pictured the Burrow then felt a slight pressure when she heard a pop and was in her childhood home.

"Mum!" She called.

"In here, Ginny."

"Hey Mum," Ginny said casually as she walked into the kitchen.

"Hello, dear. I hope you had fun seeing everyone last night," Molly smiled at her knowingly

"Is it that obvious?"

"No... not about Harry.. however, your dislike of Cho is very obvious. But not as obvious as her dislike for you."

"How long have they been dating?"

"Since about a year after you left," Molly said. "Dear... have you ever tried... getting over him? You've had it bad for him since you were eight."

"Yes, Mum! I've tried every day since I was twelve!"

"Twelve? Ginny, darling. It's been eleven years. And you still haven't succeeded?"

"No. Lord knows I've tried. Then he kissed me in fifth year, catching me hook, line, and sinker all over again... since then it hasn't been just a crush, Mum..." Ginny shook your head. Then she remembered. "Do you happen to have an address for Ron and Hermione that I could possibly apparate to?"

"Ginny, dear. It's Monday. They're both at work."

"Oh... right. I forgot... I lost track of the days already!" She smiled even though she'd been needing to talk with Hermione. Mia was asleep, as New York was five hours behind England.

"If if makes you feel any better, she's got a lunch break in an hour," Molly said eyeing her daughter worriedly.

"Oh! Great! Do you think she'd mind if I turned up thirty minutes early for her break to hang out in the office?"

"Probably not... Remember where she works?"

"Er, no."

"Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

"Right. Thanks. Hey Mum, could you not tell anybody about the Harry thing?"

"Have I ever, dear?"

"I dunno, have you?"

"Of course not dear. Unless your father directly asks, I won't go out of my way to tell him. But I won't lie to him."

"I wouldn't expect that of you, Mum," Ginny said pecking her mum on the cheek. "Well I'm gonna go! Can I floo to the Ministry?"

"Of course dear. No one's disallowed it since the war."

"Right. Bye Mum. I love you," Ginny said as she grabbed a handful of floo powder.

"I love you too, Ginny dear! Don't get lost in Knockturn Alley!" She joked.

Ginny smiled and rolled her eyes as she stepped into the fireplace. "British Ministry of Magic!" She shouted. A cloud of green fire erupted around her and she was flushed into the floo system for the first time in five years.

When Ginny got to the Ministry, she felt memories of her fourth year escapade with Harry flood back into her mind. She had been so scared that night, yet determined to help Harry however she could. Then she had seen Sirius fall through that terrifying veil that had whispered to her, begged her to join it. She'd heard Harry's heartbroken screams and watched as he tore after Bellatrix Lestrange. Ginny shook her head, willing the memories away. She could not be distracted by Harry right now.

She walked to the check in desk.

"Ginny Weasley. Visiting Hermione Weasley."

"What's your height, DOB, weight, do ya want to be an organ donor, and what's your wand made of?"

"Erm... I'm five foot one inch, my birthday is August eleventh 1981, I weigh 54 kilograms, I guess, and my wand is made of ash and phoenix feathers."

"Alright. We're going to put a trace on your wand while you're here at the Ministry. Sorry Miss Weasley, but since the war we've been doing that instead of confiscating them. If someone attacks, we'll be able to tell who it was. But if you need to defend yourself it'll be there."

"Alright, er, Stan," She said looking at his name tag, then back at his face. "Stan Shunpike?"

"Yeh. You know me?"

"I rode the Knight Bus a lot in my Hogwarts days."

"Really?"

"Yeah... with Harry Potter."

"Oh yeh! I remember those times! First time I met the bloke he fooled me into thinking he was named Neville Longbottom!"

Ginny bit back the urge to giggle. Poor Neville, being impersonated.

"Right. Well I'm going to go now, Stan. I'm going to have lunch with my sister in law."

"Bye, Miss Weasley! Have a pleasurable visit to the Ministry! Don't forget to check back out when you leave!"

Ginny waved over her shoulder as she headed to the lifts. When she got to Hermione's floor, she grinned. She hadn't really talked to Hermione in person for eight years!

She found a passerby. "Hello, erm, I was wondering where Hermione Granger's office was?" The man looked at her and she noticed his hair was platinum blond and his eyes were grey. "Malfoy?" She asked.

"Weaslette?" He asked looking just as shocked as she felt.

"Ginny would be fine now," she said stiffly. She saw Harry walking towards them. She grinned as she thought of a plan. "So how's your family, _Draco?"_

Ginny widened her eyes and pointed subtly with her head towards Harry walking towards them, his eyes on his papers. He looked behind him, then turned back to her grinning.

"Oh... my mum's been alright. I finally managed to get out of my engagement to Pansy... sadly because she died... but it's rather a happy ending..."

"Any wife, Draco?" She asked loudly.

"Why no, Ginny," Draco smiled in mirth.

"Would you like to go out this Friday, at say... six o clock?"

"I would love to, Ginny."

Ginny noticed Harry was staring open mouthed at them now. She smiled wickedly. She got up on her tippy toes and planted a chaste kiss on Draco's cheek. "I don't know if you knew this... but I had a bit of a crush on you in Hogwarts, Draco."

"Really?" Draco asked completely serious now.

"Yes, Draco," she said shaking her head no. "I guess I'll be seeing you on Friday... by the way, where did you say Hermione's office was?"

"Erm..." Draco stuttered. "That way," he said pointing behind him.

Ginny smiled and thanked him as she left the way Harry was coming from. "Oh, hello Harry," she said nonchalantly as she could as she walked past him. Nothing like revenge on someone to bond two former enemies.

She eventually found Hermione's office at the end of the corridor, and she knocked.

"Come in," she heard her former best friend's voice waft through the door.

Ginny twisted the knob and smiled. "Hey, Hermy," she said.

"Hello, Ginny. What brings you here?" Hermione asked looking tired.

"Thought I'd take you to lunch on your break so we could catch up a bit... and perhaps figure out what you actually do for a living as well," Ginny chuckled.

"I sort out the Underage Magic usages in the summer holidays."

"You're one of those nasty things?" Ginny said disgustedly.

"I've had it revolutionized since we were in school. Now we have an additional trace to see if there were any muggles about."

"How does that work?"

"It can detect different types of energy. Muggles have a different type of energy than wizards, so it can detect that. It can also detect what type of magic was used. If it was defensive magic, we let it slide. If it was any other type, we send a letter that only the underage witch or wizard's parent or guardian can open, and ask them for an explanation."

"Wow... that sounds like a lot of improvements."

"Like I said... I've changed it for the better. We don't want things that happened to Harry in fifth year or second year at all."

"Oh. That's brilliant. What do you do in the school year?"

"I deal with isolated incedents with magic where there are no wizards reported to be living... I also help Hogwarts find muggleborns, as we can detect that as well now."

"Wow. Stuff sure has changed in just five years."

"Yeah. Just be glad you weren't a confused student through it... they had to have a day to get all the new traces put on their wands in charms the year it went into affect," Hermione got up and grabbed her purse from under her desk.

"Is it alright if you leave already?"

"Yes. The busiest time of year is in about a month when Hogwarts lets out for the summer holidays... but it's still term."

"Right. Any particular places you like?"

"You wanna go to Diagon Alley? They have this new cozy cafe there. It's called Poet's Corner... it's quite popular on Friday nights and in the mornings, but it's cute and a little empty at lunch."

"That would be great, as long as they have food other than muffins and coffee. Though I could do with some coffee..."

"They have anything you want... the tables have the sort of thing we had at the Yule Ball, without the House Elves... now there is just a button you push, and it's conjured from the kitchen and portkey'd to the specific table that ordered it."

"Wow. Wizarding world is getting high tech."

"They decided the muggles were inventing stuff, they should step up their magic."

"They needed it. Are we apparating or flooing?"

"We'll just floo to The Leaky Cauldron. There are anti-Apparating and anti-Disapparating wards on Diagon Alley after the attack of 97."

"Oh... okay."

"Right... I've got my personal floo... it's got a block on incoming, but not outcoming."

"Erm, Hermione? Stan Shunpike said something about a trace on my wand and needing to check back in?"

"Oh... he only says that when he's flirting, Ginny."

"Ew... he's like... thirty!"

Hermione let out a laugh... "The trace only works when you're in the ministry... it is disabled and enabled on every wand that leaves and enters."

"Oh... okay. I was worried. Where's your floo powder kept?"

"Under the sofa."

Ginny bent down and found a tupperware container of green floo powder. "Great. You want me to be first?"

"Sure!"

She stepped into Hermione's fireplace and shouted "The Leaky Cauldron!"


	3. Poet's Corner

When Ginny got out of the grate at the Leaky Cauldron she realized in annoyance that she was covered in soot. Lovely. She dusted herself off and barely remembered to get out of the way right before Hermione came sliding out of the floo much more gracefully than Ginny had. Ginny smiled. Hermione had always been the graceful one out of the two.

"So, where is this.. erm. What was it called again? Poet's Corner?"

"Yes... It's where Florean Fortescue's used to be."

"What happened to the ice cream parlour?"

"It moved next to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes to get more business, as all the people who really want ice cream would also be at a joke shop, right? That part of Diagon Alley is known as the Children's End, all because of Fred and George. Now there's even a daycare center fenced in where Knockturn Alley was before it was evacuated and collapsed."

"I feel like I've missed so much," Ginny said as she pulled her phone out of her purse to answer a text message.

"Oh. Don't worry about it. Is that a cell phone?"

"Yeah."

"How'd you get it to work here?"

"I have it charmed to run on magic."

"Oh, Ginny. You should market that!"

"They are marketing it in America."

"As far as I've seen they haven't here... So, how was life in America?"

"It was different. They used muggle things as much as they used wands. And it was very... less old fashioned. The Quidditch gear there didn't involve robes at all. Just shorts, short sleeved shirts, padding under the uniform, and elbow and knee pads. They had a different floo system, and... there were loads and loads of clubs and the streets weren't as cluttered as London's. But it was nothing like home."

"It sounds like I should visit sometime."

"Yeah... it was... amazing... But I was just running away." She tugged at the hem of her sweater awkwardly. Then looked at her phone to see who had sent her a text message. It was Olivia, the team captain.

WEASLEY, YOU SHOULD HAVE WAITED TIL THE END OF THE SEASON TO BAIL.

YEAH RIGHT? AND MISS A BIT OF A HOLIDAY? NO THANKS.

Ginny slid her phone into her purse and looked at Hermione guiltily. "Sorry. One of my old teammates griping at me for missing the end of the season."

"Why did you leave before the end of the season?" Hermione asked curiously.

"I wouldn't have been able to have a break before the British season started. It starts up a week after the American season ends."

"Oh. Well here we are," Hermione gestured to the quaint little cafe with a flourish of her arm.

"It's cute!" Ginny burst out. And it was. The cafe was a red-bricked building with a window that read Poet's Corner in what had to be Gigi Font, Ginny thought. You could smell coffee as soon as you opened the door, and Ginny instantly felt at home as she walked on top of the hollow sounding floors that felt like they might just collapse.

She looked at the little round tables and the big cups left in some of the booths. This place could feel like home. Ginny looked at the big chalk board by the cash register and tried to read. Caramel Macchiato... Espresso. Chai Latte. What did she want?

Hermione led her to a table in a secluded back room that had no windows. "I prefer the tables in this room," Hermione explained. "The press can't see anyone in here. And they can't hear anything either."

Ginny nodded in understanding. Though the press never hounded her, she had seen the pictures of Harry every once in a while, even in America.

Hermione pushed a button on the menu, and soon her food was there. Ginny looked on startled. That was certainly strange. What happened to the charm of making small talk before the meal?

She put her finger on the menu button and food that she hadn't even thought of appeared. She put a slightly frustrated look on her face. "Oh. I forgot to tell you that it reads what you would choose given your mood, taste buds, and what you're most partial to."

"Wow. This is crazy. Almost annoying."

"I do miss how things used to be... maybe next monday we could go to a muggle restaurant?"

"That would be amazing," Ginny said, and then realized something. "Hermione, I did something stupid."

"I'm sure it will be fine. What did you do?"

"I asked Malfoy out on a date."

"What?" Hermione's mouth dropped open.

"Harry was coming down the hall, and I'd happened to ask him where your office was. I realized it was him, and then I sort of rubbed up against him. I have a date with him on Friday. But I'm pretty sure he caught my drift because he started to play along."

"Why did you do that Ginny?" Ginny didn't know what to think. But she could tell by the look on her friends face that she was honestly baffled.

"Wait..." Hermione caught on as Ginny blushed and started to tug at the hem of her jumper again. "Don't tell me you're still in love with Harry!"

When Ginny didn't say anything Hermione squealed the slightest bit.

"Why are you so shocked?" Ginny asked.

"Well... it's been eight years since you and Harry were together."

"Five, actually," Ginny corrected.

"But that was... wait..."

"Last time I saw him before the Final Battle was June 20th."

"You remember the exact date?"

"Well... I thought I might be pregnant three weeks later. But I wasn't."

"Oh my goodness!" Hermione said.

Ginny looked back down at her finger nails. "Anyways... what do I do?"

Hermione looked deep in thought and to be arguing with herself. "I think it would be best," she said carefully, "if you ended up going to Harry's favourite pub with Draco. Don't be completely slaggy, but act like you like him."

"Okay. How do I do this?"

"I'll help you get ready."

"Thanks Hermione, you're a life saver!"

"Well, you know me," Hermione said jokingly.

"Yeah, I do," Ginny giggled.

"So. Have you dated at all in the last five years?" Hermione asked.

"Um... one guy. His name was Jake. He was a muggle, but my friend Mia's brother. He'd moved to New York before her, and was showing us around... but he still couldn't hold a candle to Harry, no matter how sweet he was."

"How long were you two dating?"

"About a year."

"Wow."

"Yeah, luckily I didn't have to tell him about the wizarding world as his sister is a witch."

"You wouldn't have been able to tell him unless you married, anyways."

"Yeah, I know. But how have you and Ron been? And how come you eloped?" Ginny asked trying to level the playing field a bit.

"Oh, we've been wonderful," Hermione said happily.

"I bet you have. Got all that sexual tension out with shagging instead of rowing now, yeah?"

"Ginny!" Hermione admonished.

"I'm just saying... Everyone's seen it coming since second year, you know."

"What? I didn't even have a crush on him in second year!"

"My second year, Herm. I'd say you were both pretty erm... sexually tense from then on. Though Ron never noticed, and you never seemed to either."

"I knew how I felt. But I never figured Ron felt the same way. Especially in fourth year when he asked me to the Yule Ball as a last resort."

"You still haven't answered my other question," Hermione looked at Ginny questioningly. Ginny rolled her eyes and continued on. "Why'd you elope?"

"Well... it just seemed simpler that way. Harry was our best man and witness."

"Don't there need to be two witnesses?"

"Hmm... yeah. I think the other witness was... Cho."

"Ew," Ginny wrinkled her nose in displeasure.

"Why do you dislike her so much Ginny, other than the obvious 'she's dating Harry' bit?"

"She's... nasty." Hermione frowned at her. "She just gives me this horrible feeling in my stomach that makes me want to vomit and run away and warn against her."

"Gin... are you being honest with yourself?"

"Yes I am! I haven't liked her since my second year!"

"If you say so, Gin. Anyways, the lunch hour's almost over. Let's go up to the counter and pay, and you can hang out in my office or you can go wherever."

"I think I might visit Draco... smooth out some plans for Friday, as I forgot to specify a place to meet. What was the name of Harry's pub?"

"It this muggle place that Harry actually owns, called The Marauder's Map."

"What a cute name," Ginny said wanting to sneer, but not being able to bring herself to. She couldn't help trying to honour the memory of the Marauders.

"Oh yes," Hermione agreed. "Anyways, he'll be there with Cho. Make sure Draco is definitely in the know that this is just to make Harry jealous."

"Why are you condoning this, Herm?"

"Because honestly, no one really likes Cho... we are all just better actors than you. She was alright in Hogwarts. But I drew the line in fifth year when she was so rude to Harry when I needed to get an interview from him for Rita Skeeter."

"I'm sure. Anyways, where is Draco's office at?"

"Um, it's across from my office."

"Thanks Herm," Ginny said as she waved to Stan. "How is Arthur?" she asked in regard to her youngest nephew.

"He's doing well. He's potty training right now. I never imagined it would be this difficult."

"Mum didn't think to warn you?"

"No. She wanted me to pop out a few grandkids for her."

Ginny laughed. That was just like her mum. The lift stopped and they continued down the corridor. They got to their intended offices and parted ways.

Ginny knocked on the door. "Come in!" Draco's voice came through the door. Ginny grinned. She looked forward to planning her Make-Harry-Jealous plam with him.

She kicked the door in, "This is a hold up! Put your hands where I can see them and nobody gets hurt!" Draco looked up startled, automatically throwing his hands into the air. Ginny started to laugh hysterically. "The look- on- your- face! Hahahaha! You- should- have- seen! Hahahahahahaha!" Ginny was holding her stomach trying to control her laughter. She grabbed her wand and fixed the door, and went over to sit on Draco's desk.

She got her breathing under control, and looked at him honestly. "I saw that on TV once... You know what a TV is?"

Draco shook his head no. "It's this box that muggles have, and it's got pictures in it. But it has sound, and you can control the channels with this thing called a remote. You should watch it sometime. It's awesome."

Draco seemed to finally find his voice. "What are you doing on my desk, in my office, Weaslette?" he asked much too loudly for her comfort.

"Shh Draco. Wouldn't want anyone to think that you dislike me, would you?" she asked playfully. "I came in here to plot evil plots with you."

"You should keep your mouth down! If someone hears the word evil plots from someone in my office, they'll report me. No one particularly likes me, you know."

"Well you could have been a bit nicer in school then, yeah?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Whatever. So when and where?"

"Friday. Six o clock. We'll just meet at the train station, yeah?"

"Why there?"

"You don't still have an intense hatred of muggles do you?" She asked ignoring his question.

"No," Draco ground out in annoyance.

"Good. We're going to a muggle pub. And we'll get there by foot."

"Why there?"

She set her voice to a whisper. "It's Harry's favourite that he goes to every Friday," she said.

He nodded in understanding. "What shall I wear?"

"Something casual, I'd assume... And muggle clothing would be good, all things considering."

"Right. Erm. Why are you still here?"

"Because we need to discuss things, still."

He eyed her speculatively, and decided that she must have been driven a little bonkers by the yanks. "Yes?"

"You do understand that this is a faux date, correct?"

He nodded. "Great! Do you have any spare parchment, and perhaps a quill?" She asked.

He sighed. Why why why? He searched for his extra scroll and a quill and ink in annoyance. "You're not planning on staying here, are you?"

"Why of course, darling," Ginny said rather loudly.

Draco winced. He handed her the parchment, quill, and ink. He watched as she began writing right away. He went back to his work and then she opened her big mouth again.

"Do you have a different color, perhaps?"

Draco huffed and pulled out his green ink. "There!"

"No need to be so testy, darling. If you give a mouse a cookie," she said.

He rolled his eyes and went back to his work.

Ginny was finished and waited patiently for Draco to finish his days work before she interrupted again. When he began to tidy up his desk, she grabbed the ink wells and the quill.

"Here is a contract!" She proclaimed.

"For what?" He exclaimed.

"Shush! It's for our agreement, alright?"

"Fine, let me read it, and I'll sign it." Weaslette was beginning to remind him of a child.

He began reading. _I _ agree to the following terms of this relationship:_

"Relationship?" He asked.

"Keep reading!" She demanded.

_1. I will meet Miss Weasley only when she says and where she says_

_2. I will not infringe on Miss Weasley's personal space unless she asks me to_

_3. I will only listen to Miss Weasley if Mr. Potter is around_

_4. I will tell no one in Miss Weasley's family of this_

_5. No one except perhaps Hermione Weasley, of course_

_6. This is not really a relationship, but a business proposition._

_7. This business proposition is merely for Miss Weasley and I's pleasure to torment Mr. Potter._

_8. I will compose one song for Miss Weasley to be sung in a week's time at the Marauder's Map._

_This is my truth _ date __

"This is outrageous!" He said.

"Business, dear," she said smiling sweetly. "I just wanted you to know that, and also that this will be on my terms."

"The funny thing is I still can't see why he chose Chang over you. I mean she may be pretty and all... but her personality is even worse than yours!"

"Gee thanks, Draco!"

"It's my job, Weaslette," he said grabbing his quill and the green ink to sign her stupid document. He signed his name and dated it.

"There, don't forget to let it dry."

"Right. Nice doing business with you," she held out her hand for him to shake. He shook his head and took her hand. "Are you done with today's work?"

"Yes."

"Great! We've got a show to put on!" She walked quickly to the door and walked out first. She looked around and saw Harry standing waiting for the lifts. "Show time!" She whispered gleefully. She grabbed onto his hands and began to skip.

"Wait, er, Ginny," he said trying to refrain from the term "Weaslette". "I've gotta lock my office up."

"Fine," Ginny said smiling sweetly. "Hey there, Harry!" She said waving down the hallway to make sure she and Draco had his attention. She watched as Draco stashed his key back in his pocket, and began pulling at his hand. He willingly let her pull him, albeit a bit reluctantly.

When they got to the lifts, it opened up at once.

Ginny smiled, still holding onto Draco's hand.

"Hello, Malfoy," Harry said a little less than pleasantly.

Draco smirked. "Hello, Potter."

"Guess where Draco is taking me Harry!"

"Where?"

"He's taking me to the London Eye! Isn't that cool. You would think I'd have been there by now, but I never have."

"That's lovely. What's he paying you?" he whispered.

Ginny giggled. "Flowers!"

"Wow Draco."

"Yeah... couldn't say no to her!" he joked.

"I'm sure," Harry said. He got off at the next stop and Ginny found herself laughing.

As soon as the lifts doors closed again she let go of his hand. "Right. Friday. Six o clock. Train station. Don't forget."

"Like I could. I get to torment Potter."

The lift stopped at the lowest level and Ginny waved as she walked over to the floo systems. She flooed to the Burrow.

"Hello, Ginny dear," her mum said.

"Hey Mum."

"Did you have fun with Hermione?"

"Oh yeah. Great fun," Ginny smiled mischeivously.

Molly frowned, wondering what her daughter was planning. "That's good, dear. Would you like to stay for dinner?"

"Is anyone coming over?"

"No."

"Great. What are we having?"


	4. The Marauder's Map

_Ginny watched from above as Harry entered the chamber. She tried to get back to her body for him. She tried to warn him, but Tom's voice came into her head. "Hush, you nasty little girl. He would never believe you once I told him what you did anyways!"_

_Ginny couldn't cry, but she knew she would be if she could. She watched as Harry went to her frantically. "Ginny. Please wake up."_

_"She won't wake," Tom said. Harry noticed Tom for the first time it seemed. _

_"Tom?"_

_Ginny watched as Harry battled the basilisk, all for her. But she knew in her heart of hearts he would have done it for anyone, even Draco Malfoy._

_Harry slayed the basilisk, and then proceeded to stab the diary with its fang. Ginny felt relief, and felt herself getting stronger. She could see Tom fading, and feel him slowly leaving her mind. She felt whole again for the first time in a while._

_Harry was shaking her awake, and she suddenly could go back to herself. She awoke, her eyes popping open to darkness._

Ginny looked around in a cold sweat. It had been ages since she had had her last chamber nightmare, but sometimes the Chamber of Secrets still haunted her, even thirteen years later, it was sometimes fresh in her mind. Sometimes she would still wake up in fear that she would have no memory of the previous night. But it never happened. The biggest terror of all was her nightmares, which by now she had become used to.

She got up from her bed and headed down to her refrigerator, where she had a mini bottle of Sunny D waiting for her. It had become her favorite thing to drink after nightmares in the last five years. Before it had been warm milk, because it reminded her of when her mum had woken every night to her screams. But now it was Sunny D, as it was the only thing Mia had in the fridge for the first year. Sunny D was Ginny's nightmare ritual, and after that she would watch some television to calm the visions in her head.

She felt a sweet relief as the drink slid down her throat. She felt her muscles relax, and she made her way to her sofa, where the remote was waiting for her to command te television to life with just the push of a few buttons.

She decided on Nickelodeon, as The Nanny was on.

She smiled as she heard that awful American voice, watching a full episode before heading back to her bed where she slept soundly the rest of the night.

Ginny woke up to the sunlight streaming through her window. It was Wednesday, and she had no idea what she wanted to do that day. She didn't have many friends in England, and everyone would be at work. She decided to sit at home and read a book. She decided on a muggle book.

She looked at her collection. She decided on a book called Uglies, by a muggle named Scott Westerfeld. She'd bought it on a whim at a Borders, her favorite bookshop. It sounded like a good book, so she got to reading

Ginny looked up from her reading at noon, and decided to go visit her mum again, as her mother was always home. She bookmarked her place at part two and went to get dressed.

She ultimately decided on a pretty yellow sundress and a pair of orange ballet flats. She pulled her hair into a ponytail with a yellow ribbon, and applied just a bit of eyeliner. Ginny smiled at herself in the mirror and headed to the now assembled floo.

"The Burrow!" She shouted throwing the Floo powder in.

"Ginny! What a wonderful surprise dear! What are you doing here?"

"I thought I might have lunch with you, Mum. All my friends behave like proper grownups and work in the day now," Ginny pouted.

"Well, dear. Soon enough you'll be so busy being a Harpy and training all day you won't mind too much."

"I do hope you're right Mum... How have you been since Monday?"

"Well, I've been alright, got a new Witch Weekly. And I've been cleaning the house... been de-gnoming now that there are no boys to do so. I've also been reading an article about Harry's wedding to Cho. They're getting married at the Ministry, you know. In a ballroom."

"Really? That's... classy," Ginny said.

"Harry wanted to get married on a Quidditch Pitch, but Cho wasn't hearing of it. Good thing, too."

"What's wrong with getting married on a Quidditch Pitch?" It had been Ginny's dream since she was fourteen.

"Well, dear... Quidditch isn't everything."

"Mum! How could you say something like that?" Ginny joked.

"Dear, since you're here, help me make lunch, would you?"

"Alright, Mum. What are we making?"

"Shepherd's Pie."

Ginny sighed. She'd never particularly liked Shepherd's Pie.

They ate lunch in relative silence until Ginny's mobile phone went off. "Sorry, Mum. I've got to take this," Ginny said chewing her food as fast as possible. "I'll be in the garden if you need me."

"Alright Ginny dear. Have a fun chat."

Ginny nodded and walked out the back door, hitting the answer button. "Hello, Mia."

"Hey Gin... how are things?"

"Well... I don't know if I told you my plan?"

"Erm. No."

"So I've got a date on Friday night."

"With who?"

"His name is Draco."

"Malfoy?"

"Yeah... but we both understand that it's just a little revenge on Harry."

"Good. I'm sorry, but you've been in love with Harry for forever... and then if you went and fell for Draco I'd have to flog you. Because that's how it goes in movies and books..."

"I know. I made him sign a contract and everything. Anyways we're going to this muggle pub called "The Marauders Map". It's Harry's favorite pub. And it's going to be amazing."

"I'm sure."

"I'm just worried. . . He's getting married in a week and a half. I'm cutting it rather close, aren't I?"

"Just a little. But that's okay... I mean, you just got back in the country."

"Yeah. Mim you need to come before the end of the season."

"I know... I don't think they would be okay with that though."

"You're right. But you'll be here in time for the wedding, yes?"

"Yeah. Pick me out a dress will you?"

"Sure. Get this: Cho's made me a Bridesmaid."

"But she acted like such a jerk to you on Sunday."

"I know... I think she's trying to prove that Harry doesn't love me. I think she's trying to prove to him that I don't care about him. So she's forcing me to wear a hideous pink dress."

"Oh my. Can you hold on for a sec?" Mia asked.

Ginny nodded, then remembered that her friend could not see her. "Sure," she said.

"Alright," Mia said. Ginny heard the sound of being put on hold. A few minutes later, Mia's voice came back through the phone. "Alright," she repeated. Ginny heard the door open and turned to look at her friend.

"What are you doing here?" She asked in surprise.

"Well... I didn't want to tell you this... but I got fired."

"Why?"

"Because... I got traded to the Harpies!"

"Yes!" Ginny started jumping up and down excitedly and ran to hug her friend hurriedly, barely giving a second glance to the long scar running across Mia's right cheek. The scar had been from a Quidditch accident back in school when the healer had been out sick, and hadn't been there to heal her right away.

"This is going to be great!"

"I know!" Mia squealed.

"Wait! Did you set this surprise up with my mum?"

"Yeah. I arranged with her that she would floo call when you ended up at the Burrow at some point, and I'd come on over. Come on. My luggage is in the kitchen."

"Good. You can stay at my flat. I've got an extra room."

"I figured," Mia laughed.

"Well then," Ginny muttered playfully.

_Ginny sat in a chair next to Harry in the common room. It was her fifth year. She watched him slightly anxiously. She noticed with slight fear that her crush seemed to be coming back. She felt uncomfortable around Harry again. _

_She looked into his green eyes as he chewed some muggle gum. What should she say?_

_She didn't know what to say. And she felt an anxious panic well up inside her, the urge to bolt that she'd buried after she'd turned twelve. She looked over at Ron and Hermione, who were very close to cuddling. Suddenly words just flew out of her mouth._

_"You'd think they'd realize how much they like each other, yeah?" She asked._

_Harry looked at her, an odd look in her eyes. Think of Dean, she reminded herself. Dean Dean Dean Dean Dean._

_He began to speak. "Yeah. It's pretty obvious with the way they row and get jealous."_

_She smiled. "They have a lot of sexual tension. You can almost feel it when you're near them."_

_Harry looked at her, and Ginny repressed the urge to blush and run away or do something incredibly clumsy._

_"Hey Harry," Dean walked up. "Ready for practice?"_

_"Yeah," Harry answered. "Just let me get my gear."_

_Harry left and Ginny felt like she had been cheated but also that she had been saved. She finally allowed herself to blush at her verbal diarhea._

Goodness_, she told herself. _That was embarrassing. What is wrong with me?

Ginny woke up to sunlight streaming through her window. She felt peaceful for the first time since she'd left America. Today was Friday. She smiled. Her date with Draco was today.

She heard the television in the other room, and realized Mia must be awake.

She opened her door and stepped into the brightly lit living room. "Ginnayyyyy there's nothing good on the telly!" Mia said in a mixture of British and Southern American accents. Telly. Ginny had forgotten that the TV was called a tele.

"Well read then, Mims," Ginny said slightly testily. "Did you make coffee?" She asked sniffing the air hopefully.

"Yesh. It's over there in Mr. Coffee-Maker-Sir," Mia told her. Ginny smiled at the name they'd given their coffee maker.

"Good. I need it."

"Did you drink yourself to sleep, _again_?" It was a well-known fact among the team that Ginny barely drank, and when she did she wouldn't have more than two.

"You know it," she winked.

Mia just laughed and rooted around for a book.

Ginny looked in her wardrobe and found something she'd been dying to wear for a year. It was a black dress, that went down to her knees. She paired it with a pair of silver flats and silver dangly earrings.

"That looks great," Hermione told her.

Ginny looked back at her former best friend, who was sitting primly on her bed.

"I hope so," Ginny muttered.

Hermione applied some makeup and pulled her long fringe into mini-braids that she bobby-pinned to the back of her head. She smiled, feeling like a triumphant goddess.

"Don't forget your bag," Hermione reminded her.

She grabbed her black purse and walked into her parlour, waiting for Draco.

Hermione looked at her. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Waiting for Draco to pick me up?" Ginny questioned.

"He's waiting for you at the station!" Hermione said exasperatedly.

Inside she shrieked, realizing she would be late for her faux date. "I'm leaving, Mims, Herm. If the date is a bust, I'll text you!" she yelled running out the door.

She ran all the way to the lift, where she couldn't run anymore. She huffed and puffed out of breath, and very disappointed in herself. _You really shouid have ran everyday this week_, she chastised herself._ I know I know_, her inner teenager said moodily.

She ran until she got the the train station and when she saw Draco.

She walked coolly towards him. He looked her up and down and seemed to be sizing her up. Ginny brissled.

"Are you going to fix your makeup? It's all runny, and you're sweating," he explained.

"Well, I guess I'll excuse myself to the loo for a few moments then," she said acting as if she was offended.

When she looked into the mirror, Ginny realized Draco was completely right. She looked as if she'd run a marathon in her dress and flats. She headed into a stall and pulled her wand out from inside her holster on her thigh.

She waved it, muttering a quick spell Hermione had taught her in her fourth year. She replaced her wand in its holster and flushed the toilet for affect. She walked out of the stall and washed her hands. She cupped water in her hands and doused her face with it. She felt fresh. She pulled her makeup out and began to reapply.

When she exited the loo Draco stared at her. "What?" She asked irritably.

"Well you look nice."

"What a complement. You sure know how to make a girl feel good about herself," she told him.

"You know it. Seriously though, Weaslette."

"Thanks, Draco. Ready to take the tube and go to Potter's pub?"

"Yeh," he said.

"Cool," she smiled at him. "Let's get this show on the road!"

Ginny walked into the Marauder's Map, her hand laced into Draco's. It was cool, as if it was as cold as she had once believed his soul to be. But she knew better now.

Unconsciously her eyes sought out Harry, and immediately found him, falling on his mop of hair. Her heart sighed as she watched him put his arm around Cho's shoulders. _God, I love him, _she thought. _So beautiful. _It was enough to make her heart skip a few beats. But she had to fight that impulse to squeak and blush tonight.

She looked up at Draco and grinned. "Weaslette, what do you like to drink?" he asked loudly.

She gave his hand a squeeze. "I particularly like whiskey," she said just as loudly. Harry looked over, looked back at Cho, and then did a double take.

Ginny smiled. "Alright, Weaslette," Draco said. "I'll go get us some whiskey! You go find us a seat."

"Alrighty, Draco." She tried to act smitten with him.

She sought out a table until she found a small table for two off to the side.

She scanned the room for Harry and Cho again as she sat down. Harry was still staring at her. She smiled smugly to herself, and began to play with her hair.

Draco returned with their drinks, and she flirtatiously thanked him. In the back of her mind, Ginny knew that she was playing a childish game. Even as she acknowledged this, she also acknowledged that it might be the only way to get Harry.

She watched him as his head turned back to Cho, who was staring at Draco and Ginny fixatedly. "What a cow," she whispered to Draco. Draco smiled and nodded in agreement. "Who would want to go out with Potter?" He asked with contempt.

Ginny shot him a look, and he at least had the decency to flush. "Sorry, Weaslette," he whispered.

She watched as Harry got up to go to the loo. She realized that the whiskey was getting to her bladder. She needed to wait for a bit though, so it didn't look as if she were stalking Harry. _You kind of are, _a nasty voice whispered in her head.

_I'm just making him jealous is all, _she justified to herself.

She got up two minutes later. "I'll be back Draco, don't leave without me," she said teasingly.

She strutted to the loo, only to find that Harry was just walking out of the door when she rounded the corner. It was too late for her to put on the brakes. She bumped into his chest, and noticed with faint interest that he had gained muscle.

"Oh, hello, Harry," she said as he caught her by the shoulders to steady her.

"Ginny," he said, his eyes dark.

Ginny looked up into his green eyes, and instantly knew she had made a mistake by doing so.

_So beautiful, _was all she could think.

Hermione was still sitting on the couch in Ginny's flat, wondering how the date was going. She was also wondering if she should try to start a conversation with Mia.

"So..." Hermione finally said hesitantly.

Mia smiled at her, and when she did the girl's whole face lit up. "Hi, I'm Mia."

"Hermione," she said, sticking her hand out.

"I've heard all about you," Mia told her, taking her hand.

"Really?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Yeah, you are her other best friend, afterall."

"Yeah, I suppose so. We haven't talked in so long, though."

"Well, you both lead different lives now," Mia reasoned.

Hermione studied the scar on the girl's face. She didn't want to be rude, but she was curious.

Mia must have noticed. "Quidditch," she said. "The healer was out sick. A bludger took me out, and I fell, and happened to land on a stick when I hit the ground."

"A stick?"

"Yeah. I know. Completely pathetic," she grinned a little self-deprecatingly. "Best seeker in the school, and I fall off my broom, and land on a stick, and end up with a permanant scar."

"Well," Hermione said hesitantly. "I'm sorry."

Hermione was reminded of Draco by Mia's white blonde hair, and she began to worry. She didn't do the right thing when Ginny had confided in her. If Harry found out, he would be extremely angry. Not only that, but she had always thought that it would be wrong to do such a thing. She had just told her only girl friend that it would be alright to make her best guy friend jealous because he was about to get married to Cho Chang.

"Goodness," Hermione groaned.

"Just realizing what you've done wrong?" Mia asked.

"What?"

"Well you told Ginny not to act too slaggy, but act like she liked him," Mia explained.

"And?" Hermione asked petulantly.

"Well, you know it's wrong."

"I don't see you trying to stop her," Hermione gasped.

"It's not my place. I didn't tell her to make him jealous. Maybe he's just meant to be with Cho. He liked her first. And then he left her. And I know she's been pining all of this time... but I don't like to see her like that."

Hermione gaped at her. "And it's my place?"

"Well... you gave her counsel."


	5. Realizations

_Harry looked down at the worn picture. He watched as the three Weasleys look around sullenly, before looking at the camera and smiling. He once again looked at Ginny's blue jumper, and how the fire behind them danced on her hair, making it come alive. Her eyes had dark circles under them, like she hadn't been sleeping properly. _

_She waved as the picture flashed, and he smiled. Her smile was beautiful. He thought everything about her was beautiful, however._

_He set the photo down, and began to pace. _

_He finally sat down, grabbing a quill and piece of parchment. He began to write a letter._

_Dear Ginny,_

Harry awoke from the dream, and sighed. She was still haunting him, and he was about to get married. He rolled back over, as sleep beckoned him back.

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_Harry met Ginny halfway through the garden, and they met with their lips. The world stopped turning as he realized how much he had missed her. They parted, and the world came back with sharp clarity._

_"Do your parents know I'm here?" he asked._

_"No," she smiled mischeivously. "Then I wouldn't be able to have you all to myself."_

_"Good point," Harry said._

_He looked at the moonlight in her hair, and he leaned in to kiss her again. "I missed you, love," he told her._

_"I missed you too," Ginny murmured against his lips. He smiled into the kiss and everything disappeared once again._

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Harry looked across the table, glancing speculatively at Cho. She was looking at her nails. Should he tell her?

"Cho, I think that we should call off the wedding," he finally told her.

She looked up, "You're joking, right?"

"No, Cho, I'm not."

"You've got to be. You can't just call off the wedding a week and a half before!"

Harry stayed silent, staring at her.

"It's her, isn't it?" she asked.

"Who?" Harry asked confusedly.

"Weasley!" she all but shouted, her pretty black eyes narrowed.

"No, it has nothing to do with Ginny," he said.

"I've seen the way you look at each other!" she said.

"Ginny and I don't look at each other in any way other than friendly," Harry said firmly. And it was true. Harry loved Cho, really he did. But he knew that deep down, it wasn't a lasting love. It was more of convenience, as he'd thought countless times before. He felt that maybe he was not destined for love like Ron and Hermione's. Ginny had left that morning, and then after Voldemort had died, she'd left for America.

Cho had run into him at the one-year anniversary banquet, and from there they'd continued running into each other, until eventually they had done it on purpose.

"Right, and I'm about to grow a beard," Cho said sarcastically.

Harry rolled his eyes at her. Cho was all dramatics. It was one of the things he had liked about her, though. She was so different from Ginny. He needed different for a while.

"Well... you could always ask Hagrid for tips," Harry said, attempting to make a joke.

"Oh look, here's your rebound girl," Cho said nastily.

Harry looked towards the door of the pub, and as Cho had said, there was Ginny.

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Cho watched Harry as he went to the loo. She sighed sadly. She had thought he was hers. But that Weasley girl was there to ruin it again. Cho glanced at Ginny. Maybe she wasn't after Harry. She seemed to like Draco.

Cho remembered when she and Draco had dated in his seventh year. It had been very hush-hush, as he was a spy for Snape at the time. They had parted ways peacefully though, after the final battle. They had realized that they weren't meant to be.

She smiled at him and waved. He waved back. She felt a little sadness in her heart at the thought that she'd let him go. And now he had Ginny.

It seemed all her old boyfriends ended up with Ginny. Or had been with Ginny first. With the exception of Cedric, of course. She sighed again remembering Cedric. Her first love. She had been sure that they were going to last. And then he had died. She fought the urge to cry. She was past that. She was a grown-up now.

_Right, Chang, keep telling yourself that, _said a nasty little voice._ You're a real grown up, with your hysterics and conspiracy theories._

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Draco walked with Weaslette up to her flat. "You live here?" he asked her.

"Yeah, with my best friend Mia."

"Is she from America? I don't remember her from our Hogwarts days."

"Yes, she went to Lynch Academy, in Kansas," Ginny informed him. "She's playing for the Harpies in the upcoming season as well."

"That must be exciting."

"It is. Draco, you didn't have to walk me home."

"It's alright... that's what one does after a date, right?" he asked jokingly.

"I wouldn't know..." Ginny's voice trailed off, as if she were remembering a different night.

"Well this is me," Ginny smiled at him chipperly.

They stood on under the light for a minute, before she awkwardly opened her door. "Would you like to come in? You can use my floo."

"That'd be great," he said awkwardly.

He walked into a living room and noticed that it was quite small, but flattering to Ginny. It had a minimalist taste. It was well lit, and had many muggle appliances.

"Mia this is Draco, Draco this is Mia," Ginny introduced.

Draco looked to the couches and noticed Hermione and who must have been Mia. "It's a pleasure to meet you," Draco said smiling as he took in Mia's appearance.

She had hair the same colour as his, and a scar running down her cheek. Her eyes were a pretty grey-green, and her lips were curled up into a bright smile that lit up her whole face.

"Same here," Mia said calmly.

"Well it was nice hanging out tonight, Weaslette," Draco said looking at his "Date".

"Yeah, it was," Ginny said.

"I'd better get home. I'm dead beat after work today," Draco joked. "Where's your floo powder?"

Ginny retrieved it and handed it to him. He threw the green powder into the fireplace and stepped in. "Malfoy Manor!"

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"Harry," Cho said.

Harry looked back at his fiance. "Yes?"

"I think you're right. I promise I won't make a big deal of this. I'll just tell my dad that I called it off."

Harry looked at her suspiciously. "This isn't like you," he said.

"Well, I did some thinking while you were snogging Ginny," Cho said. Harry glanced sharply at her.

"I'm joking. I know you were just at the loo. The point is, you're right."

"You're admitting this?" Harry asked shocked.

"Yeah, but don't go spreading it around," Cho muttered.

Harry just grinned at her.

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"Ginny, I think you should come clean," Hermione said.

Ginny glanced at her friend, "What do you mean?"

"You should tell Harry what you feel. And you should tell him why you're going out with Malfoy."

"Why?"

"Because... well. If you haven't figured it out, then maybe I shouldn't tell you," Hermione said nervously. "I've got to go, it's Arthur's bedtime. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I guess," Ginny said.

Hermione said nothing, but disappeared with a pop.

"What does she mean, Mia?"

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Hermione popped back into her home in Cambridge. Arthur immediately began to run to her, nearly toppling her over. "Hello, sweetie," Hermione smiled at her only son.

"Mummuh!" Arthur exclaimed.

Hermione picked him up, and set him down on the floor. She kissed him on the forehead, "Have you already had your bath?" she asked.

Ron walked into the room smiling. "Squeaky clean," he told her. "He's been waiting for you to tuck him in."

Hermione picked Arthur up, hugging him to her. "Alright, sweetie," she told her son. "Let's get you tucked in. Do you want to read tonight?"

Arthur nodded enthusiastically, and her heart melted. Her son loved reading.

She carried him to his bedroom and placed him in his toddler bed. "What do you want to read?" she asked him.

"Hairy Heart!"

She smiled at her son again and opened up the fairytale book. "Now, _'There was once a handsome, rich and talented young warlock...'_"

Hermione noticed halfway through the story that Arthur had fallen asleep. She smiled and closed _The Tales of Beedle the Bard _quietly. She kissed his forehead once again, whispering, "I love you, sweetie" as she pulled away and exited the room. She heard a pop from the living room and figured that it had to be Harry.

"Hey Hermione," Harry said.

"Hello Harry," Hermione said. "How did your usual Friday Date go?"

"It went quite well, actually," Harry grinned at her.

"What happened?"

"Well... I'm not going to get married."

Hermione's jaw dropped open, "Why not?"

"Cho and I came to a mutual agreement that we were together more out of convenience than anything else," Harry told her.

"Nothing else happened?"

"Well Ginny showed up on her date with Draco," he said bitterly. "But that has nothing to do with that," comprehension dawned on his face. "Wait a minute!"

Hermione glanced nervously at anything but him.

"You told her about my pub, didn't you, Hermione?"

"Yes," Hermione said.

"Why were you trying to break Cho and I up?"

"I wasn't Harry, I-"

"Yes you were! I know that we're not together anymore, but why didn't you trust me?"

"Well obviously I was right!" Hermione whispered enraged. "You aren't together anymore. And it wouldn't have lasted! You would have been stuck in a loveless marriage for the rest of your lives!"

"That's my decision to make, Hermione!" Harry stood up from the couch. "It's my life! I know you think that since you're the smartest person I know, you can make my decisions, but-"

"No I don't! I was just helping Ginny, Harry!"

"Helping Ginny?" His voice quieted.

"Well, she's still in love with you. And she wanted to see if you were still in love with her."

Ron came out from the corridor, "Why's Harry shouting this time?" he asked tiredly.

Hermione shot him a sharp look.

"Your wife here decided that she didn't trust my judgement!"

"Look Harry, I'm sorry. But I just went along with Ginny's plan-" Hermione cut herself off, she'd said too much already.

"She's the one who left me, not the other way around," Harry said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to... well... I don't know where. Somewhere with firewhiskey, I suppose."

"Harry, just go home or stay here for the night," Ron told him.

"I don't think I will," Harry said coldly. He took a deep breath, counting to ten. After eleven, he Disapparated with a barely audible pop.

"He'll come round, 'Mione," Ron said, hugging her. A tear slid down her right cheek, and she buried her head in his chest.

"I hope so."

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Ginny settled into her twin-sized bed, finally a little bit satisfied. She smiled at the memory of once again feeling Harry's touch, even if it had just been to steady her. It had been so long since she had felt the tingle between their skin...

She fell asleep smiling for the first time in ages.

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Harry paced about his flat, grumbling to himself. "Make me jealous... she left me... Malfoy... Doesn't trust me..."

He thought about what Hermione had called Ginny's plan. Did Ginny really plan that? Was that why she had said that to Malfoy, about always having a bit of a crush on him? Or was this just another plot of Hermione's to keep him away from Cho? Could he even trust Hermione?

Why would she say that about Ginny if it weren't true, though? And why would Ginny do this? Ginny was... he'd waited for her for a year. But she'd gone off to America, after leaving him with no explanation, and then she never wrote, never flooed, never visited.

Why would Ginny do this? It wasn't the Ginny he knew.

He sighed once again, his grumblings coming to a halt. "Should I talk to her?" he asked himself.

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_Ginny swayed to the music of the band Fleur had hired. She smiled up at Harry, tightening her arms around his neck. As if by instinct, he instantly tightened his arms around her torso. She burried her face in his chest, smelling his scent._

_"Ginny, I've got to go tomorrow," he told her._

_Ginny looked up at him questioningly. "I've got to go look for the horcruxes. I'd take you with me, you know I would, but you'll be safer at Hogwarts."_

_"If Hogwarts even opens again," Ginny said bitterly._

_"It is, I got a message from McGonagall this morning."_

_Ginny sighed. "Keep your chin up, Gin," Harry grinned crookedly at her. "I'll visit as often as possible," he told her._

_She smiled at him and leaned her face up towards his. He began to lean down, and they kissed._

Ginny sighed at the lovely dream as she woke up to sunlight streaming through her window. She felt peaceful. This was the best way to wake up. No one nagging her to get up, no explosions, no fires, nowhere to go for the day. Just peaceful sunlight. She smiled.

She could hear Mia moving around in the kitchen, the WWN playing Celestina Warbeck's "Beat Back Those Bludgers, Boys, and Chuck That Quaffle Here". Mia was singing along to every word. Ginny rose from her bed and pulled on her dressing gown.

By the time she reached the kitchen, The Weird Sister's "Do The Hippogriff" was playing, she laughed as she watched Mia _shaking her booty like a boggart in pain_.

Mia looked up. "You wanna 'Do The Hippogriff' with me?"

"No thanks, I'd prefer not to seem like I've already had some firewhiskey at eight in the morning," Ginny smiled.

"Your loss," Mia told her, _flying off a cliff. _

Ginny shook her head, crossing the room to put the tea on. She wasn't in the mood for coffee this morning.

Soon a new song was playing, one Ginny knew had to be one of those crossover artists, because there was no mention of magic in the song. "When somethin is broken, and you try to fix it, tryin to repair it any way you can."

Ginny looked sharply at the radio. "I dive in at the deep end, you become my best friend."

"Mia, do you know who this is?" Ginny asked, hypnotized by the mystical sounding music.

"It sounds like Coldplay," Mia said. "I think this must be X & Y, I've heard some anticiption about it coming out on the radio. Jake has been excited about it."

"Coldplay?" Ginny asked.

"They're a muggle band... at least I thought they were," she explained.

"Okay," Ginny said, placing the kettle on the stove. She gave her wand a flick, and the dial on the stove turned up. She looked over at her friend, "So did I imagine that look you were giving Draco, or were you totally checking him out?"

Mia blushed, something that she rarely did. "I don't know what you're talking about," she muttered.

"Uh huh," Ginny smirked.

"Besides, you're going out with him."

"You know it's only fake-date."

"That's not what happens in the movies," Mia explained.

"Well this is real life, not a film," Ginny said firmly. "Besides, I can't have a real relationship with someone who calls me 'Weaslette'. Just do me a favor and ask him out when I call quits on this 'relationship'."

"And when are you going to do that?" Mia asked.

"I really don't know... Maybe after the wedding, if my efforts fail."

Mia tutted, and Ginny narrowed her eyes at her. "What?"

"Nothing," Mia said. "You have to figure this out for yourself."

Ginny just shook her head, and wondered if her efforts had any effect on Harry the previous night.

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Draco lay in his bed, the curtains still drawn. His house elf wouldn't unseal them until it was time for him to awake. He rolled over, grasping onto the black silk sheets. He clamped his eyes shut, trying to make sleep return to him. He did not want to face another lonely day.

He thought about the date last night. It hadn't been the best date ever, but then again, it hadn't been a real date. What drew his attention more was the girl that had been in Weaslette's flat. It wasn't that she was overwhelmingly pretty.

It wasn't the large scar on her face that easily could have been removed by a healer. It wasn't even that her hair was very similar in color to his. It was the way her smile had lit up her whole face.

He sighed, rolling onto his side. He opened his eyes, and once again could barely see. He could only see the small sliver of light reaching through the curtains. _"Lumos," _he whispered, and his wand lit on the other side of the curtains. Now he could see the Slytherin green curtains contrasting against the silver colored pillow cases.

"_Nox_," he whispered, and the light went out. He sat up, giving up on sleep all together. "Glimmer!"

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Ron was awoken by Arthur jumping up and down on the bed. He squinted in the morning light. "Arthur!" he quietly chastised. He stretched, trying not to awake his wife.

He got up from the bed, his feet hitting the soft warm rug. "Come on, son. Let Mummy sleep," he whispered.

Arthur ran up in front of him. "Up!"

Ron sighed, holding his arms out. Arthur ran into them, and he lifted him up. "You're going to be too big for this, soon," Ron said with a grunt.

Arthur just grinned at him.

"Yeah, you want some porridge?"

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Harry grumbled to himself as he Apparated into The Leaky Cauldron. He bumped into someone, and they cursed at him, until they noticed who he was. "Sorry, Mr. Potter," the man said.

Harry just shook his head, and continued to walk down Diagon Alley. He got to the coffee shop, and waited in the quieu. "Hello, welcome to Poet's Corner," the cashier said. She noticed his scar, "Merlin... shite..." she said. "You're Harry Potter."

Harry grit his teeth. "Yeah, I am. Anyways, can I please have a..." he thought for a moment. "Just a black coffee, please."

"No problem, sir," she said. Harry groaned. Why had he decided to come to Poet's Corner for coffee this morning? He should have gone to a muggle cafe. The girl left after a moment of staring at him, rushing to fix his coffee.

"Can I have a number?" he asked.

"My floo number, you mean?" she asked, running her hands through her hair.

"Er, no. A number... for my order. So I don't hold up the quieu."

"No!" She shouted. Harry looked at her bewilderedly. "I'll be done with it in just a mo'!"

"Alright," Harry said.

She came back a moment later, and she handed him his coffee. "Is it true that you're getting married next week?" she asked.

"No," he said gruffly. "We called it off."

Shen let out the tiniest squeal. "Lucinda, what's going on up there?" a woman's voice asked.

"Nothing, Callista. Just- just- you know, working," Lucinda called.

A middle aged woman came out from behind a door that Harry hadn't noticed before. She tied an apron around her waist. "Right, Lucinda. Why don't you leave Mr. Potter alone, and tend to the next customer?"

Lucinda nodded, looking down.

"I'm sorry Mr. Potter," Callista said. "You have my deepest apologies... Lucinda usually isn't like that."

"It's alright," he said awkwardly. "If you'll excuse me, I need to get to work."

"If you prefer, we have an Apparition Point in my office. You can use it," she offered.

Harry considered for a moment. "No thank you, I'll just walk."

"Come again!" Callista called as he left.

_Right, _he thought. _Not after that fangirl._

He soon reached The Leaky Cauldron, and walked into muggle London.


	6. The Spirit

**AN: A lot of thanks go out to my beta, MinistryMalcontent on SIYE. He helped me quite a lot!**

Ginny took a sip of her tea contemplatively. Why was everyone being so, so, cryptic with her? She sighed, almost choking on the tea. She shook her head, and set the cup down.

She decided she would try to figure it out. But not right now, she had too much of a headache as it was. She never liked it when things were difficult for her to understand- because usually things came so easily to her. She couldn't deny that she was a bit lazy.

"Hey Mia!" Ginny called out to her friend. A plan for their empty day made it's way to her mind.

"Yeah?" Mia asked as she poured her coffee.

"You've never been to Diagon Alley, have you?"

"Nope," she said, popping the _P. _"Why?"

"I was thinking I could show you the shopping center of my childhood."

"What time do you want to go?" Mia asked eagerly.

"Erm... When we finish breakfast?"

"Alrighty, what do British witches wear out?"

"Robes. Everyone here is much more attached to their culture," Ginny explained.

"Great," Mia said. She wondered if she should wear black or a pretty color.

"Black, Mims."

Mia looked at her questioningly.

"I know you have some exuberant robes... but please, you do not want to stick out in Diagon Alley."

Mia nodded, draining her cup of coffee. She began to sing "Do The Hippogriff" to herself.

Ginny rolled her eyes slightly. The Weird Sisters were too, weird, for her.

SNSNSNSNSN

Ginny and Mia wandered through Diagon Alley, Ginny telling her about various places and what had happened there during her Hogwarts years.

"That's Flourish and Blotts, where that diary was slipped into my cauldron before my first year. And where Gilderoy Lockhart was, did you know he was finally released from St. Mungo's a few years back? I was shocked," Ginny prattled.

"Yes, Ginny. You ranted about it. He's got a new book out, too. It's called _My Magical Maladies and Memory Loss."_

"That is... completely cheesy!"

"I know, but I kind of want to read it. And meet him, see if he's changed at all."

"He'll probably have a book signing sometime in August, when everyone shops for school supplies," Ginny guessed.

"That makes sense," Mia muttered.

"D'ya want to go into the book shop?" Ginny asked.

"Sure," Mia affirmed. "Why not? I've been meaning to pick up some books."

They walked into Flourish And Blotts, and Ginny immediately recognized many witches and wizards.

She tried to walk past them all, but a few of them recognized her and stopped her.

"What books have you been wanting?" Ginny asked.

"Well," Mia said lowering her voice. "Enchanted Encounters by Fifi LaFolle."

Ginny giggled. "You do secretly enjoy those bodice rippers, don't you?"

"Yeah, but we don't need that to get out, do we?"

"No," Ginny said.

"I've liked them since age fourteen," Mia told her.

"That young?" Ginny exclaimed.

"Well, my roommate Rowena introduced me to them," she explained.

"Yeah, you've told me before, Mims."

"Well, let's get on with it, then," Mia said.

SNSNSN

When they exited Flourish and Blott's, they decided to get ice cream at Florean Fortescue's, despite the fact that it was barely noon.

"They've got all kinds of interesting flavours," Ginny said excitedly. "They've got Dragon's Blood, Bewitching Attraction, Know-It-All Ape Grape, Frog and Pickle Express, and Strawberry/Chocolate Twist. They also have some cultural flavours, from Mexico and America!"

Ginny seemed a bit excited to Mia. "What is your favourite?" she asked.

"I personally like Bewitching Attraction," Ginny said, still almost bouncing.

"Are you okay?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're…. hyper. And kind of annoying."

"It's probably just the cheering charm I cast on myself in the loo."

"Ginny!" Mia admonished. "It's dangerous to cast those on yourself!

"The thing is… I am tired of feeling sad and guilty. I don't even know what I feel guilty for."

"Well, Ginny, at this point you'd be better off drinking."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"At least it's safer than cheering charms," Mia explained, trying to remain patient. Her friend had never been so lost before. "Those are even more addicting that alcohol."

"Well I don't drink. Not after June twentieth, at least."

"Okay, well, come here," Mia made a come here gesture.

"What?"

"_Finite Incantatem!"_

"What was that for?" Ginny asked grumpily.

"You were annoying. Come on, ice cream will surely make you feel better."

"What flavour are you going to get?"

"I was thinking strawberry/chocolate twist."

"Be careful with that one, it turns your hair colours."

"Cool!"

"Better than red, I guess."

"Pink is?"

"Definitely."

"Well, now I'm definitely getting that one!"

SNSNSNSN

After their foray into Diagon Alley, Ginny and Mia walked into muggle London.

"I love the energy here," Mia said. "So lively and… not quiet. Not like Wichita."

"It was quite quiet there, wasn't it?" Ginny asked.

"Yes… it wasn't peaceful, but it wasn't exciting either. The most exciting thing one would see is a hooker."

"There were prostitutes near where you lived?"

"No… they were downtown a lot. At least I know they were there. There were probably some near where I lived… but I've never encountered one there."

"I briefly considered becoming a prostitute when I graduated," Ginny said.

Mia shot a look at her, as if to say _yeah, right. _

"Okay, fine, I didn't. It was pretty much either Quidditch or becoming an Auror. And being an Auror takes much more training than Quidditch."

"Well, I figured as much. Anyways, I love this city. I hope I get to live here for a while. Ten years ago, my mom would have flipped out. My brother found one of my _Daily Prophets _talking about Voldemort… and she was so upset. You have no idea how much work it was to convince her to let me go back to school."

"You _wanted _to go back to school?"

"Well, I wanted to learn magic, and see my friends, even though I didn't appreciate when I'd have three essays do in one week."

"Yeah, I was almost expelled after my first year, and I wanted to go back so desperately," Ginny said. "That year, it changed me completely."

Ginny knew her eyes must have looked haunted judging from the look on Mia's face. She wondered how they had gotten on such a dark topic. She didn't like remembering that year. It had been the darkest of her life. If it hadn't been for Colin and Luna, she probably would have gone insane in her second year.

"On a lighter note," Ginny said, forcing her voice to sound chipper. "I love London, too."

Mia smiled at her, and they continued walking.

SNSNSNSN

Harry sat on a park bench, wondering what he should do. He hadn't brooded in years, but here he was again. Ginny seemed to do that to him.

He watched as a red-haired woman jogged by, and he sat on full alert until he noticed that it wasn't Ginny. Probably just some muggle. He put his head into his hands, groaning. She was driving him insane.

That alone made up his mind.

SNSNSNSN

Ginny was stirring the soup they were going to have for supper. Potato au gratin. She smiled in anticipation, as it was her favourite soup.

She heard a faint pop, and assumed that Mia was Apparating in from the grocery store located in Hogsmeade. "You didn't forget the milk, did you?" she asked without turning around.

"I didn't know I was supposed to bring milk," a voice that definitely wasn't Mia's said. _Harry. _

She spun around, letting go of the spoon she'd been using, "What are you doing here?"

"I came to talk to you," he said. She looked into his eyes, and noted that they were dark, almost black. No longer the colour of a _fresh pickled toad. _

"About?" she asked.

"Draco Malfoy," he said, his voice tense.

Ginny didn't know whether to cry or smile, so she did neither. She peered into his eyes again, an eyebrow raised. It had taken her years to perfect the eyebrow raise, but it came in handy in times like these.

"Hermione told me why you went on a date with him," his voice was deadly quiet. She suddenly knew that he was angry. Incredibly angry. And her anger reacted to his.

"Did she now?"

"Yes, it was quite enlightening, really."

_Bloody woman can't ever keep her mouth shut when it matters, _Ginny thought.

Ginny raised an eyebrow, again.

"You wanted to break Cho and I up." It wasn't a question.

"Why would you think that?"

"Because Hermione told you to go to _my _pub. Not anyone else's, but _mine. _And there is no possible way that you wouldn't know that I wasn't somehow involved with that pub, given the name."

"Is it really a crime to go on a date to my friend's pub?" Ginny questioned.

"It is when you're going to an old boyfriend's pub, with his former rival, after he's found out while they were together she had a crush on said rival!" he was shouting now.

Something broke within her. "I never liked him!" Ginny yelled. "I barely like him now!"

"So you admit that you went out with him to make me jealous? Is it because you regret what you did? Or is it because you've never liked Cho?"

"What did I do Harry? What did I do to you?" Tears were welling up in her eyes.

"You left me," it came out in a whisper.

"I left you?" she asked hysterically. "I left you? _You _left me!"

"Why would I have left you?" he yelled again.

"I don't know. Maybe I was a quick shag! Maybe you didn't really love me! Maybe you just tricked me so I would shag you! I don't know!"

Harry walked towards her, and she could feel the room heating up with accidental magic. If neither of them watched it, something might catch on fire.

"Is that really what you think I'm like?" he yelled.

"You could have tricked me all that time!"

"Then you don't know me at all!"

He counted to ten, and Disapparated on eleven.

SNSNSNSN

When he got to his flat, Harry roared, kicking a hole into the wall. He still didn't know what to think. And he most definitely did not want to talk to Ginny Weasley to sort it all out.

He conjured a target and aimed a blasting hex at it.

SNSNSN

Ginny slowly turned back to her soup, shaking. She wiped away the tears, telling herself that it was going to be alright. _You've already lived five years without him near you, _she reminded herself. _You were fine until now. _

She splashed water on her face, and began to wash her hands. She decided not to cast another cheering charm, as Mia was right. But she would hide this the best she could. She washed her hands a second time, realizing that she had not done the right thing is seeking Draco's help.

She heard the lock of the door turn, and she spun around to make sure it was Mia. It was.

Mia came into the kitchen, carrying a brown paper bag. "I got the milk you wanted," she said. She looked up at Ginny, and somehow instantly knew. "What's wrong?"

"Harry showed up," Ginny explained, her voice a little shaking.

"He just showed up?" Mia asked. "Just like that?"

"Yeah. I don't even know how he got our coordinates. Anyways, he confronted me about Draco, and _why didn't you tell me _your reservations? Looking back, I can tell what you thought about it."

"I had to let you figure it out on your own. I know it makes me sound like a piss-poor friend, but you did. You wouldn't have listened anyways, Gin. I know you."

Ginny narrowed her eyes at her friend, but then decided she wouldn't argue with her as well. Mia seemed to have noticed this is well, because she put the grocery bag down on the floor and moved to hug Ginny.

Ginny thought about rejecting the hug, but knew that she needed all the comfort she could get. She let herself crumble in her best friend's arms, the tears escaping for the first time in front of someone else.

When Ginny's sobs quieted, Mia pulled away. "I think the soup is burnt, but no matter. Let me turn off the burner," Mia pulled out her wand and gave it a quick twist. "Let's get you to your room."

She guided Ginny to her bedroom, opening the door and pulling back the covers. Ginny automatically walked towards her bed and laid down. Mia pulled the covers back over her friend's form. "Just get some sleep, and we'll talk in the morning, all right?"

Ginny clamped her eyes shut, trying to stop the tears. She buried herself under the covers, feeling dejected and broken again.

SNSNSNSNSN

Harry repaired the walls in his flat, the anger fading just slightly. He mostly felt saddened. He had gone nutters for a few moments when Ginny had tried to talk her way out of the corner she'd backed herself into.

He had vowed he would never act that way towards Ginny, but a lot of things had changed in five years. They'd never even officially broken up, but they'd obviously seen other people, and changed a great deal.

He wondered if they'd even be able to make it work if they were to give a relationship a chance. She'd barely been back a week and a half and they'd already had a row- well a one sided row.

Harry couldn't contemplate any kind of relationship right now. He didn't even want to report to Quidditch practice the next day. He didn't think he could handle looking for the snitch.

He sighed, sinking down into the sofa. Could he even show his face around the Weasley family now?

SNSNSNSN

_Ginny set her quill down, her brown eyes taking on a cold glare. She fought the smirk that was working it's way onto her face, wondering what was happening. She fought against standing up, but it happened anyways._

"_Give up," a man's voice whispered to her._

_She finally gave in, because it hurt too much._

_She woke up, wondering how she'd gotten the feathers sticking to her robes._

SNSNSNSN

Ginny woke up with a headache. That should have been her first clue that it was not going to be a good day. But then she got into the shower, when she squirted shampoo into her eye. After she dealt with this, she almost slipped trying to climb out of the tub. And as she was brushing her hair, the previous evening pushed itself to the forefront of her mind.

She continued brushing her hair as she contemplated how Mia had helped her. Ginny felt so weak as she recalled how she hadn't even functioned. She had cried, and she was sure looking back that she'd gotten snot on Mia's blouse.

She felt the brush pulling on her locks, and closed her eyes as the feeling overtook her. It felt better than the pain she felt, once again, over Harry.

She opened her eyes and began to plait her fiery locks. They seemed more like a crayon to her today, but maybe it was just the blur that seemed to cover her eyes.

She pulled on a nightdress, crawling back into bed. When Mia next came in she would wake her up. She didn't feel the need to talk right at the moment.

SNSNSNSN

Mia walked into Ginny's bedroom, carrying a tub of ice cream. "Ginny."

Ginny's head appeared from the top of the covers, looking blearily in Mia's direction.

"I know that it's only nine, but I brought some ice cream, we can even eat it out of the carton," she explained, conjuring two spoons.

Ginny finally sat up, and seemed to ponder the thought of ice cream. "What kind?" she asked.

"Chocolate," she sing-songed.

"Gimme some," Ginny said, her eyes looking a bit more alive.

Mia handed her a spoon, and they both began to dig into the carton.

SNSNSNSNSN

Harry awoke to rain splattering on the roof. He rolled over in his bed, trying to fall back into sweet sleep. He threw his pillow on top of his head, trying to block out the city sounds emanating from the streets beyond his walls.

He finally made himself wake up, because he was supposed to meet Ron at The Marauder's Map for breakfast. Harry knew he needed to apologize to Hermione. She was one of his best friends, and hadn't truly meant any harm. She had sensed what Harry had been feeling for months.

She had been there for him when even Ron had abandoned him, and she didn't deserve the treatment he had given her, no matter how much she'd stung him.

He felt like he was dealing with this much better than he would have when he was fifteen. He thought back to that year. The first year he had began to notice Ginny, but never really noticed that he had noticed. The year that Sirius had died. The year that he had been possessed for mere minutes. The year he'd had his first kiss with his ex-fiancée- no matter how terrible it had been.

And yet, somehow he was handling this better. Maybe it was because he hadn't let the anger roil in his stomach for too long. Maybe it was because he was older. Or maybe it was because he felt as if he were a different person now. Whatever the reason, he knew that he needed to apologize to Hermione, and not just because she was his best mate's girl. She was his sister.

He didn't bother to shower, just pulling on a clean pair of robes and running his fingers through his untamable hair. It would work. He was just going to see Ron, after all.

SNSNSNSN

Ginny peered at the bottom of the ice cream carton, wondering how it had gone so quickly. "Do we have anymore?" she asked.

Mia shook her head sadly, also wishing there were more. It was the best emotional binge flavor, besides sherbet.

They had talked about the argument between Harry and Ginny, and Mia tried to explain the wrongness of what Ginny had done. Ginny had looked down at the ice cream for five minutes when she had finally understood. She felt ashamed at herself. She hated herself once again, this time for chasing Harry away while trying to draw him back.

"I wish I could have a time-turner," Ginny murmured.

"To eat the ice cream again?" Mia asked confusedly.

"So I could change what's happened. But I don't think it would work. I would probably have bat-bogeyed myself. I can't take back the past, so perhaps I should just… live with it."

"That's the spirit, Gin."


	7. June 20th

**Author's Notes:**

**I'm sorry it's taken so long. Life has gotten in the way. I was visiting with family and then school started. I know I know- no excuses. But here it is, with MANY THANKS to MinistryMalcontent, my beta.**

Harry looked into the pensieve that Dumbledore had left him, observing the memory of that morning five years ago, almost to the day. He tried to make sense of what Ginny had said. _"What did I do to you, Harry? What did I do?" _Harry wondered why she had been so flummoxed, why she had seemed so, broken. She was the one who had hurt him.

He produced the memory of the night before that, and the evening before that. He dived into the pensieve, suppressing the shudder that wanted to race through his body as he felt the icy depths.

_Harry eyed his hair, trying to decide what to do with it. Should he glamour it completely, or should he just put highlights in it? He decided to put gold streaks in his hair. He muttered the incantation, then turned his attention his eyes. They were much too green. He decided not to change them, because Ginny had always told him how much she liked the color. He grabbed the muggle concealer, and the powder foundation he had bought with a fiver. He rubbed it all over his scar, and could finally barely tell it was there. His tell-tale scar was covered, and no one could even _finite _it. _

_He finally stopped examining himself in the looking glass, in order to pick out what to wear. He didn't want to appear under or overdressed. _Are you a girl now, Potter? _he asked himself. _

_He finally threw on a dark green button down shirt, hoping for her to notice his effort. He pulled on a pair of black trousers, absent-mindedly wondering whether he should wear his trainers. _

_He decided to wear the trainers, as Ginny probably wouldn't notice anyways. He smiled at himself in the mirror. _

"_Look at that handsome bloke," he told himself. "Ginny will love him."_

_He hoped she would. _

_He skipped the cologne Hermione had given him for his seventeenth birthday, instead opting for the _au naturale _smell. Ginny had once told him that without cologne he smelled like bread and pine. He didn't know how that happened, but didn't argue, because she smelled like wildflowers, and he knew for a fact that she didn't use that scent in her shampoo._

_He tried to calm his hair down, but as always, it didn't work. He smiled at himself in the mirror, but it came more like the grin of a goblin. _

_He walked out of the hotel, making sure he had the room key in his pocket. No one could know he was a wizard._

_He continued to walk to the pub where he was to meet Ginny. He walked in, deciding to wait until she arrived to order his drink. He sat down on a bar stool, observing the other patrons. _

_They all looked like drunk muggles to him. He smiled in spite of himself. At least they weren't drunk wizards, as drunk wizards tended to forget the privacy statutes. Not that he had any authority over that, of course._

_His thoughts strayed to Voldemort, and the horcruxes he had managed to hunt down so far. Back in his sixth year, he never would have believed that it would take this long to hunt them down. It didn't help that he was the most wanted wizard in Britain, and anyone who aided him would either be killed or sent to Azkaban. Or worse, tortured for information._

_The ministry had fallen halfway through what would have been his seventh year, and Voldemort had become the Minister of Magic. He had made Bellatrix Lestrange head of the department of Magical Law Enforcement, and Snape head of the Aurors. _

_Harry couldn't go anywhere himself. He even had bought himself a pair of muggle contacts. He lived as a muggle, going from hotel to hotel with Ron and Hermione, each wearing a new disguise each time. They always had different names, and always paid in paper. No one could trace them this way. Sometimes they would take a break, and go somewhere they knew contained no horcruxes, just in case someone had caught on. But no one ever had._

_He watched as the door opened, and in came Ginny. He stood up from his stool, smiling at her. She glanced at his hair questioningly. "It's just a glamour, muggles do this to their hair all the time."_

_She nodded as if she knew this already._

_"I missed you," he said, looking into her brown eyes._

_She smiled at him, and his heart felt as if he was meeting her for the first time. "I missed you too, Harry."_

_He pulled her to his chest and hugged her. Her warmth made him feel like he was doing the right thing. Her warmth made him want to end it all, right then. She looked up at him and he leaned down and kissed her. It was nothing like their first kiss. It was loving, and needy._

_They stopped kissing and went to sit down at the bar. The bartender looked at them questioningly. "One whiskey please," Harry said. "And erm... one-"_

_"Beer," Ginny inserted, smiling at him. The bartender slid the glass of whiskey down the bar and Harry caught it easily. Harry noticed her eyeing him, but refrained from asking the question that nagged at him. Instead he decided to change the subject._

_Harry pulled out a picture of last years Christmas. "Your mum sent this to me through Dobby. I wished I could have been there with you."_

_The picture was worn, even though it had only been taken a little more than six months ago. Ginny was smiling in the picture, as were her mum and dad. They all looked like grimaces, though._

_"Oh. I wished you were there too, Harry. I wished everyone could have been there. I was the only one with a Weasley sweater."_

_The bartender sent down Ginny's beer, and Harry felt pride well up in him. His girl didn't get tipsy with just one shot of whiskey._

_Harry put his hand into hers, hoping she didn't reject him. He took a swig of his whiskey nervously._

_"Can I have a sip?" She asked._

_He smiled and held his cup out to her. _

_She drank it. "It's not nearly as strong as firewhiskey," she said._

_"I know. Not nearly as intoxicating either. Dead useful," he said._

_Harry set a few pounds on the counter, and drained his whiskey. "You wanna go to Harrods?"_

_"What's that?" She asked._

_"It's a store, you'll love it," he said, remembering the countless levels, and all of the unique things they had._

_They walked to the store, and Harry hoped it wasn't closed. Luckily, it wasn't. They walked in, and he pulled her through the various rooms. _

"_It'd be easy to get lost in here," he told her. He'd been to this store once with Ron and Hermione when they had been throwing anyone off of their scent._

_When they were done, and Harry had brought her a few things. He tried to concentrate on his hotel room as they kissed in the alley. He didn't want to splinch them. They continued to kiss, he began to unhook her bra, and she began to unbutton his trousers. He moaned into her mouth, and then, they fell onto the bed. _

_The next morning, Harry woke up at seven. He moved towards the mirror, and noticed his glamour had worn off. He charmed them back onto his hair and decided to surprise Ginny with breakfast._

_He walked a long time before he found a restaurant that he thought she might like, and served breakfast. He walked in, and noticed right away that it might not be the type of restaurant where he could buy breakfast to go. He decided to ask the hostess when she came back from seating the people who had walked in right before he had._

_When she returned, she noticed that she was eyeing him. He looked down, wondering if he'd forgotten shoes or something. But he hadn't. He shrugged mentally, and proceeded to ask her, "Do you have food available to-go?"_

"_Sorry sir," she said, "but we don't."_

"_Right, thanks… Do you know anywhere that does?"_

_She pondered the question. "There is a McDonald's about five minutes away, and I believe there is a coffee shop somewhere on the next block."_

"_Thank you, miss," he said._

"_You're welcome," she said. She waved, but he was already in the process of heading for the door._

_He walked until he saw the coffee shop, which had actually been ten minutes away. He ordered a few pastries, and had bought Ginny chamomile tea in the café's to-go cup. He bought himself a cup of coffee, taking a sip now and then on the long walk back to the hotel. He didn't want to be as reckless with Apparation as he had been the night before._

_When he got back, he dropped the bag and cups he'd been carrying. The hotel room was empty. "Ginny?" he called. No one answered. He walked around the room, even checking in the shower and under the bed. She was no where to be found. What if Death Eaters had found her? He muttered a quick _evanesco _to banish the food he'd bought them._

_He knocked on Ron and Hermione's adjoining door. "Guys, are you awake?" _

_He heard some scurrying around, and Hermione opened the door. "Harry, you're up early."_

"_I- I just wanted to make sure you two were okay."_

"_Did you have a nightmare?" she asked, concerned._

"_Er, yeah, I did," he said, running his hands through his hair. If the Death Eaters had found him, they would have raided Ron ad Hermione's room as well. Had Ginny left voluntarily? Something broke inside of him._

"_Well, we're alright Harry. Why don't you get some more sleep?" she asked._

"_Yeah- yeah, good idea," he muttered._

_She smiled at him, in what he guessed was supposed to be comforting or reassuring. Harry closed the door, grimacing at her. He walked towards the bed, and sank into it, his head in his hands._

Harry was expelled from the memory, and left to wonder once again why Ginny had seemed to think everything was his fault.

A few weeks later found Ginny trying to get on with her life. She had found out the day after Harry had accosted her that his engagement to Cho had been called off. Now she wasn't going after him, hoping against hope that he didn't hate her. She hoped that maybe he'd just need time, but she came to understand that if he hated her, she'd have to grin and bear it, because she did not blame him.

She walked down the refrigerated aisle of the supermarket, trying to decide if she _really_ needed to buy the cream cheese.

She looked up, and there was Harry. He was examining a carton of eggs. She wondered what was so interesting about it, but began panicking a moment later. What if he saw her? She looked away pointedly, as if that would really stop him from seeing her.

She could suddenly feel Harry's eyes on her, but he didn't approach her. She sighed in relief when she no longer felt his eyes on her.

Ginny had examined her own feelings for him over the last few weeks, when she had time. Mia had helped her, because somehow Mia always knew what to say, and how to say it. She'd realized all of these things, and wondered what else she'd realize with even more time. She worried about it. Revelations and realizations always shook her up.

SNSNSNSNSN

Hermione walked into the Ministry, happy that Harry had finally spoken to her. She felt as if her life were complete again. She had her family, and now both of her best friends.

She walked past Stan Shunpike, wondering how he had even gotten a job at the Ministry. She figured that maybe the Knight Bus had only been a part time job while he worked on studying for his second bout of NEWTs.

She entered the lift, and noticed that Draco Malfoy was also entering from the Floo Room. "Hello Draco," she said pleasantly. She tried not to let her feelings over his part in her argument with Harry cloud her features.

"Hermione," he said. It seemed to her as if he had difficulty using her first name.

"Have you been well?" she asked.

"Yes, I have, thanks. You?"

"I've been as well as I could be."

"What's that mean?" he asked curiously.

"What does what mean?"

"Usually when someone says that, they're dealing with something," he explained.

"Oh, well I'm not."

"Alright," he said. "I think this is out stop."

Hermione noticed that he was right, and they continued to walk down the corridor side by side. Hermione almost felt like they were friends, until they parted ways without saying a word.

SNSNSNSN

Harry Apparated into the Ministry, ready for work. He sighed, still brooding over everything. Usually, he would not brood. Ginny Weasley seemed to bring out the moody teenager in him, however.

He wondered, not for the first time, whether they would ever be able to be together again. He continued onto the lift, hoping to avoid both Hermione and Draco.

He pressed the button for his floor, and waited a few minutes for the lift doors to close. He wondered why wizards had decided to use lifts (as they were a muggle invention), but not all of the other inventions, such as computers, cars, tapes, televisions, and telephones. Even the ballpoint pen. But they only used the lift and the radio.

He shook his head as he exited onto his floor, continuing to his office.

He managed to get to his office successfully without Hermione bothering him. _Mission complete, _he thought.

SNSNSNSN

Ginny flooed to the locker rooms at the Practice Pitch. It was her fourth week as a Harpy, and soon the matches would begin. The first match would be against the Catapults. She grinned in anticipation. She couldn't wait to see the look on McLaggen's face when she scored on him for the first time.

She remembered him from her school days. She had no idea how he had gotten signed to the Catapults, because he could not even manage to get on the Gryffindor team. She didn't give him much more thought as she changed into her robes and threw on all of her pads.

She wrinkled her nose at the smell of sweat in them, and muttered a quick _scourgify. _She had always been good at cleaning charms, even back in her fourth year.

Mia was already out on the pitch when she entered, catching the practice snitch. "Hey Mims!" she called.

"_Hola!" _Mia called back.

"How long have you been here?" Ginny asked.

"Um… about an hour."

"Why?"

"It's good exercise. I ran around the field as well," she explained.

"_Why?" _Ginny asked, flummoxed.

"Because otherwise I'd get fat. Quidditch won't keep me in shape well. I discovered that in high school."

"So you _run?" _

"You say that as if it's a bad thing!"

"Well, I'm allergic to running."

"Ginny, if you were as committed as I, you would be even better."

Ginny considered throwing the Quaffle at Mia, but decided she didn't want to injure their seeker before their first game.

"I'm diggin' these robes," Mia said.

Ginny thought about the word- _diggin'_. What a strange word.

"Like you're 'diggin'' Draco?" Ginny asked.

Mia actually blushed, "How'd you know?"

"I could see it that night. And when we ran into him in Diagon Alley," Ginny scrutinized. "You've never blushed like you've blushed regarding him."

Mia blushed harder, but ended up grinning sheepishly.

"See!"

It reminded Ginny of when she and Harry had first began their relationship in her fifth year. The last week, she'd stopped analyzing her actions, and just regretted that she had done what she had.

SNSNSNSN

Cho wandered about Diagon Alley, wondering how her life had gone so off-course. She'd had a plan- one that had involved Harry. But ever since Ginny had come back, she could sense his unrest in their relationship. Normally, she would not have given him up so easily, but she'd always suspected that his heart belonged to Ginny Weasley.

She had been right, too. Part of her dreaded watching them get together, but part of her looked forward to it. Harry would finally be happy. _Truly happy. _Not just content, but joyful. And if he ever needed her advice, she'd be there.

She knew that the Weasley's saw her as a villain, and she supposed that she hadn't helped by being foul and controlling. It was how she'd always been. Dramatic, but beautiful. Like her Patronus. However, she hoped that soon they'd see the real Cho. Not the nasty one she showed them.

She wondered how long it would take them. _Knowing him, months or years. _

SNSNSNSN

Ginny sighed as she once again missed a shot. "Weasley! Get down here!" Gwenog Jones called.

Ginny huffed and dove towards the ground. "I know, Gwenog. I know."

"Are you sure?" Gwenog asked. "You're missing an awful lot of goals lately."

"I'm sorry. I've just been distracted, I promise I'll get together," she promised. She meant it, maybe if she stopped worrying about her relationship with Harry she would be good again.

"Good, I'd hate to kick you off the team so soon, Weasley."

"Me too," Ginny muttered.

"Now get back in the air, and show me you can play."

Ginny took off in the air, putting all thought out of her head except the ecstasy of flying.

SNSNSNSNSN

Hermione Apparated into her home, wondering what she should cook for dinner. It was her night to cook. "Maybe I should make Shepherd's Pie," she muttered.

"Ron, are you home?" she called.

"Out here, 'Mione!"

Hermione followed the sound of Ron's voice, and found him in the back garden, playing with Arthur. She smiled, a warm feeling coming over her heart. The feeling often did, when she saw her two boys.

"How are my men today?" she asked, picking Arthur up and kissing him on the cheek.

"Well, according to Hannah, he was great at daycare. He ate all his lunch, and slept all the way through naptime."

"I'm so proud of you, sweetie!" she told her son.

"Mumma!" he smiled. "Miss you!"

"I missed you too, sweetie," she smiled.

She put him down, and walked over to Ron. "I missed you, too, Mr. Weasley!"

"And I you, Mrs. Weasley," he said, leaning in for a kiss.

She met him halfway, and then heard an "ew" emit from Arthur.

She laughed. "What do you want for dinner, Little Man?"

SNSNSNSN

Ginny pulled off her shin pads, sighing in relief as air hit her skin. It felt so much better than the sweat that had enveloped her legs previously.

She ran a brush through her red locks, smiling at the pulling sensation on her scalp. She decided to brush her fringe into the rest of her hair for the day, and cast a cleaning charm to rid her of all of her sweat.

She walked out of the changing rooms, in her normal black robes.

"Ginny! Wait up!"

She turned, noticing Mia for the first time.

"Are you alright, Gin?" Mia asked.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Ginny asked.

"Well, Gwenog yelled at you. And you've had this unthinking expression on your face."

"I'm fine," Ginny said.

"If you say so," Mia muttered.

Ginny glared at her friend, but then decided to plow through the conversation. "Do you have anything to do?"

"Nope," her friend said, "You?"

"Nah. You want to go to a Cinema? We can stop by a flat, and we'll change into muggle clothes."

"Works for me," Mia said.

Without another word, they both popped out of existence.


	8. Christmas at the Burrow

Ginny Apparated into the points at the Burrow. The December air whipped into her face immediately. She winced and pulled her jumper up over her nose. She hated it when her nose was cold.

When she got closer to the house, she could make out the form of her mother kneading bread in front of the window. Ginny smiled, and waved when her mother looked up.

She walked more quickly towards the door, more eager to get into the house than before. "Happy Christmas!" she called out when she opened the door.

"Ginny dear, you know better than to wear just your jumper," her mother chastised. Her eyes softened, and she said "Happy Christmas, dear."

Ginny pulled her into a hug. "Sorry, Mum. I thought that I would be late. So I didn't bother to grab my coat."

"I see you managed to grab the gifts though," Molly said.

"Well, it is Christmas. All of my nieces and nephews would be sorely disappointed if I'd not brought them anything."

"Too true. You can put them under the tree," Molly instructed.

Ginny did as told and entered the living room. "Hey Dad. Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas, Ginny," Arthur stood up and gave her a hug. "Did you get me one of those muggle campooters?"

"Computers, Dad. And we'll have to see, won't we?" Ginny had, in fact, purchased him a laptop that he could use in the shed. She worried about it just a bit. There was no electricity in the Burrow, and there was a possibility that her father would somehow electrocute himself taking it apart.

He smiled at her. He grabbed a plate from the table. "Fancy a biscuit?"

"I don't mind if I do," she said. "Mmm, gingerbread."

The front door opened and Ginny heard the bickering voices of Ron and Hermione. She rolled her eyes. Even on Christmas, they were arguing.

She took a biscuit from the plate and offered it to little Arthur. "What are they fighting about this time, buddy?"

He just shrugged, as if to say "Why should I know?"

"You're right," she told him. She watched him crunch the biscuit in his mouth. "It doesn't matter, as they always fight anyways."

"Ginny!" Ginny's head snapped towards the reprimanding voice of Arthur's mother.

"What?" she asked defensively.

"You gave him a biscuit?" Hermione asked.

"It is Christmas. Biscuits are allowed to be eaten."

"You could have asked me first," Hermione said. "We're trying to keep his diet balanced."

Ginny rolled her eyes once again.

Ron began to speak. "Or you could have offered me one, first."

She opened her mouth to retort, but instead settled on smiling and saying, "Happy Christmas, guys."

They both smiled a little bit more. "Happy Christmas," Hermione said. She made her way to hug her.

Ginny put her hand on Hermione's belly. "Merry Christmas, kid," she told the baby.

Hermione rolled her eyes at Ginny's name for her baby. "Have you picked out any names yet?"

Hermione walked towards the living room, waddling all the way to the couch. She sat down with a sigh. "I was thinking that for a girl, we'd name her Molly Jane, after both of our mums. Or for a boy, we were thinking Richard."

"Oh Hermione, you can't name your son Richard. Wait until he got to Hogwarts. People would try to call him Dick. And that is a terrible name for any kid to be saddled with."

"Oh yeah. What's your idea of a good name, then, Ginny?" Ron asked.

"Hmm. Let me think. I've got it!" Ginny exclaimed. "Luke."

"Why Luke?" Hermione asked interestedly.

"I don't know… just sounds like a good name," Ginny shrugged.

"I do really like that name," the wheels in Hermione's head were turning.

They heard the door open again, and they heard Fleur's throaty voice. "Oh, Victoire, Jason, and Benjamin are here," Ginny grinned. "Let me go greet them!"

Over the last few months, Bill and Fleur had had Ginny over for dinner many times. She had gotten to know her niece and nephew, and had even been one of the first to hold Benjamin after he was born. Bill had always been her favourite brother, and now that they lived in the same country (and the war was over) they were closer than ever. Ginny even put up with Fleur for him.

Ginny went to see her nephews and niece. "Happy Christmas!" she told them. She hugged both Jason and Victoire, and gave Benjamin a kiss on his chubby baby cheek.

"Happy Christmas, Aunt Ginny!" Victoire told her. "You scored so many goals yesterday!"

"Well, it is my job," Ginny grinned at her niece. "Have you had a good Christmas?"

"Yeah!" Jason intervened. "I got a toy broomstick!"

"How high does it fly?" she asked him excitedly.

"Not as high as yours," he said a bit disappointedly. "But still high! Mummy made me promise not to try a Wonky Faint."

Ginny chuckled. "Did you get anything good, Victoire?"

Victoire began to grin like mad. "I got a Metamorphmagus Maggie doll! When you brush her hair, it changed to a different colour! And when you touch the mole on her neck, her face changes!"

"That sounds awesome!" Ginny smiled, thinking of Nymphadora Tonks.

"It is, Aunt Ginny!" Victoire said. "But I wanted a broomstick, too!"

"Well, Munchkin, there is always next Christmas!" she told her.

Victoire nodded. "Do you want a ginger biscuit?"

She grabbed the plate and offered one to both of them.

They each took one and ran off.

"Hello Bill, Fleur," she said to them each in turn. "Merry Christmas!"

"Back at ya, Gin," Bill said leaning in to hug her.

Ginny returned his hug and turned to hug Fleur as well.

The door did not stop ringing for what seemed like most of the day, Weasleys pouring in left and right.

One last visitor arrived, and Ginny, as she had all day, got up to greet whoever it was. She thought that maybe Percy had finally arrived. She opened the door and nearly had a heart attack when she saw who it was.

She pulled herself together and managed to say, "Happy Christmas, Harry!"

Harry grinned down at her, and she tried not to stare at him. She had missed him so. "Merry Christmas, Ginny," he said.

She ushered him inside, reprimanding him about only wearing his jumper. They arrived in the living room, and Hermione and Ron beckoned him to sit next to them.

Ginny tried not to stare at the three, but she was doing a terrible job of it. Harry looked as fetching as she remembered. He looked happy. And her favourite thing to see was the fact that he was Cho-less. But she reminded herself that she had not won. Harry's heart was not a prize (though she would be very happy to be given back his heart). And relationships could not be built on deceit.

She blushed thinking of what she had done six months ago. And immediately she knew that she had to apologize to Harry.

_But maybe not today, _she amended. _Today is a family day._

Supper consisted of brussel sprouts (to which Ginny said "no thank you!"), goose, gravy, potatoes, and stuffing (to which, once again, Ginny said "no thank you!").

George snuck a Canary Crème into her treacle tart at some point, and Ginny promptly turned into a red Canary that began squawking angrily. She soon changed back and promised George that if it had not been Christmas, he would have been Bat-Bogeyed.

They opened their crackers when everyone was done, and her mum insisted that they all put on the paper crowns and gather for a photograph. They took turns going around the table and reciting the jokes that came along with them.

Ginny's turn soon came, and she nearly froze with Harry's attention on her. "Erm. Okay. Why don't toads sit on toadstools?"

"Because… they're toads!" Arthur junior said.

"Because they got turned into a canary!" Victoire guessed.

"Because there isn't mush room!" Ginny grinned at them. "Get it, mush room?"

"I don't get it, Aunt Ginny," Jason told her.

"That's alright, kiddo. It's not a good joke."

They continued to tell terrible jokes until they'd gotten through everyone.

After supper, they exchanged gifts. Ginny realized that she had not gotten Harry a gift. She felt bad about it, but knew that it wasn't really her fault. She hadn't known that Harry was coming today. Surely Harry would understand that, too.

From Bill, Fleur and their children she received a free Portkey back to America (you can go visit Las Vegas!). From Charlie she received new chaser gloves for the upcoming Quidditch season (you had better win with these!). Percy gave her a book on household charms (just in case you've forgotten what you learned during the holidays all those years ago!). Fred and George each gave her a coupon for the shop (now you'll have an excuse to visit us!). She received _Quidditch Through the Ages _from Ron and Hermione (I tried to tell her you already had it!). She received a tin of fudge and a new Weasley jumper that looked the same as the one she had received the previous year.

She made fun of Ron when he opened his jumper to reveal that it was once again maroon. Ron craftily replied "Well…. Your face is maroon!"

"Very clever comeback, Won-won!"

He grinned at her, and she grinned back. It had been a long time since they had joked with each other.

Ron pulled on his jumper and Ginny watched Harry open his jumper. It was green, as usual. Harry pulled it on and Ginny looked away once she saw that his head was out of the hole. It would not do to be caught.

The night wound down, and soon everyone was leaving. Ginny stayed until it was almost half eleven, and her mum was walking her to the Apparation point.

When Ginny was home, she cleared room for her gifts. Once she was done with that, she performed her nightly routine and went to bed.

That night, she dreamed of Harry.

_Ginny looked up to see a frustrated looking Harry standing over her._

"_To what do I owe this pleasure?" she asked him flirtatiously._

"_I want my socks," he told her._

"_Your… socks?" she asked._

"_Yes. You know, the things I put on my feet before I put on my shoes," Harry explained exasperatedly._

"_Why would I have your socks?" she asked._

"_Because you've been stealing my socks since you were twelve," Harry told her. _

_Ginny's eyes narrowed. She had never stolen Harry's socks. Whoever had told him that was going to have bat-bogey's._

"_I haven't, though," she told him._

"_Then why can't I find any of my socks?" Harry yelled, throwing his arms in the air._

"_Maybe Dobby has them," she told him. "Do you want to walk to the kitchens and ask him? I'll go with you."_

_Harry grinned at her, and she felt her heart flutter in her chest. Something in her wondered if tonight was the night that he would finally kiss her._

"_Sure," he said. They left the common room and walked through the corridors of Hogwarts._

_For once, fifteen year old Ginny felt on the cusp of being involved in Harry Potter's life._

Ginny woke up, gasping. She had forgotten that. Or so she had thought. Apparently her subconscious had not.

She glanced at her clock, noting that it was half three in the morning. She swung her legs out of the bed, her feet hitting the cool carpet. She padded out to the kitchen and put on a pot of tea.

While she had been in America, she had not drank tea as much as she had at home. Coffee was what Americans drank. Coffee and soda.

She sighed, and pulled the milk out of the refrigerator. She placed it on the counter, and began to contemplate the last few months of her life.

When she had moved back to England, she had not expected to have such a hard time of it. She had expected to reunite with her family, to play great Quidditch, maybe find a new boy that reminded her of Harry.

But in just one day, the world had crumbled.

It was all because of Harry Potter. It was all because of the grip he still had on her heart. It was all because she had never wanted to function without him. She hadn't functioned without him, come to think of it.

She sighed, covering her eyes with her hands.

The teapot began to whistle, and she pulled it off and poured her tea.

She took a sip too soon, burning her tongue.

While she was waiting for her tea to cool, she realized something.

She had never gotten over Harry, but she had given up on him that day. She had let the memory of him consume who she was, until she was the shy little girl she had been at eleven, requiring to be saved by the very boy who had caused her depression.

Except this time, the boy was a man. And the man was not waiting to save her. He had let go of his "saving people thing", and she needed to let go of her "Harry Potter thing".

It seemed like it would be impossible, but she needed to remember who she had once been.


End file.
